Hartford was named after Hertford in England in 1637, but the Dutch settled the first colonial village in 1633. The native Americans called the place Suckiaug. The first Western constitution was written here in Hartford in 1639 and served as the sole capital of the Connecticut colony until 1701. The Read more…
Connecticut’s old state house was completed in 1796 and served its original purpose for 82 years. At the time, there was a second state house in New Haven because Connecticut alternated capitals until 1873. From 1878 to 1915, the building was converted into Hartford‘s city hall. I was told that Read more…
I was immensely impressed by Springfield during my short visit there. The Springfield Museums system punches well above its weight with a balanced portfolio of five museums in arts, history, and science. Famous children’s book author Dr. Seuss was also from Springfield, this city’s main peacetime claim to fame. During Read more…
The Springfield Museums system has five museums on site and you can access all of them with a single ticket, which manifests itself as a wristband. In order of interest, they are the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum (timed entry), Smith Art Museum, D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Wood Read more…
Over the past 18 months, I’ve spent five weekends in New York City to see everything on my list. I didn’t have anything left to see on my sixth weekend there, so I decided to make a series of bad decisions over 48 hours. I showed up without a plan Read more…
The Springfield Museums system has five museums on site and you can access all of them with a single ticket, which manifests itself as a wristband. In order of interest, they are the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum (timed entry), Smith Art Museum, D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Wood Read more…
Ever seen one of those old-timey civil war rifles with “SPRINGFIELD, MASS” engraved on the metal slide? This is where it was made. George Washington himself authorized the construction of an armoury for the US Army in Springfield and it operated until 1968 hiring up to 14,000, or almost the Read more…
The Springfield Museums system has five museums on site and you can access all of them with a single ticket, which manifests itself as a wristband. In order of interest, they are the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum (timed entry), Smith Art Museum, D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Wood Read more…
The empire state’s museum in Albany is a program by the University of the State of New York relying completely on donations to operate, which means it’s free. The museum is a horseshoe loop around the first floor of the building, the floors upstairs are occupied by the state archive Read more…
Anyone who has spent at least 50 hours studying 20th century architecture would recognize Albany’s Empire State Plaza as Le Corbusier’s brainchild, a one-block model of his Radiant City, except it’s not. It was a poorly-executed urban renewal project under governor Nelson Rockefeller supported by Albany mayor Erastus Corning II, Read more…