Subscribe Now!
WINTER 2003
VOLUME 1 / NUMBER 2
IN THIS ISSUE: BUILT IT / RAZED IT
Front Street’s Saloons 
Historic Modern Architecture? 
The Anatomy of a 221-Year-Old House Rise & Fall of Public Housing 
A Mantel with Mileage
Contents
On the cover:
Boys line up in the street, c. 1906. Hartford’s East Side, a densely
populated working-class immigrant neighborhood, housed nearly half
of the city’s saloons.
pg 7 From the Publisher: Do we try hard to preserve the past? By Elizabeth J. Normen
pg 9 A Tale of Two Cities: The Rise and Fall of Public Housing By Nancy O. Albert
pg 18 The Last 18th-Century House on Main Street By David F. Ransom
pg 24 The Award-Winning Wilde Building By Bruce Clouette
pg 31 The Wilde Building: A Building for the Completely Insured Air Age By Sheila Daley with Elizabeth Normen
A pair of stories that consider: 1950s Office Building — Icon or White Elephant?
pg 34 The Saloon: The Poor Man’s Club By Gergely Baics
Vice in 19th century Hartford centered around the city’s saloons.
pg 40 re: collections: The Mark Twain House Mantel By Patti Coogan
This well-traveled architectural element inspired more than a few yarns.
pg 42 Shoebox Archives: Francis Goodwin II’s reflections on the wild and wooly three-day opening of the Bulkeley Bridge.
pg 44 Destination: The Polish National Home By David Kamienski
This Art Deco gem has been the cultural home of Polish Americans for 70 years.
pg 45 Soap Box: Tyler Smith has the last word as the Emhart Building, now known as CIGNA’s North Building, is slated for demolition.