Colt Park

Colt Park is a city park in the southeast Hartford, Connecticut neighborhood of Sheldon/Charter Oak. The 106-acre (43 ha) park was established from the former Armsmear Estate of Samuel Colt and Elizabeth Jarvis Colt which was gifted to the city upon her death in 1905. Today the park is home to playgrounds, sports fields, a pool and Dillon Stadium.[2] Colt Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 8, 1976, designated as part of the Colt Industrial District, valued for its association with industrialist Samuel Colt. It is bounded by Wawarme, Wethersfield, Hendricxsen, Van Dyke Avenues and Stonington, Maseek and Sequassen Streets.[3]

Colt Park
Samuel Colt Memorial, Colt Park
Colt Park is located in Connecticut
Colt Park
Colt Park is located in the United States
Colt Park
LocationHartford, Connecticut
Coordinates41°45′7″N 72°40′16″W
Area106 acres (43 ha)
Built1905
Part ofColt Industrial District (ID76001987[1])
Added to NRHPJune 8, 1976

The grounds were originally developed in High Victorian Gothic style, and served as Colt's exclusive "pleasure-grounds." It was complete with large reflecting pools, rustic furnishings, fountains, urns, statuary, artificial ponds for fish and foul, a deer park, orchards, fields and more.

Pope Park and Colt Park were the last major additions to the City of Hartford Parks System in 1898 and 1905, respectively. The two parks were intended to serve the traditionally working-class Hartford neighborhoods of Frog Hollow, Parkville, and Front Street.[4]

In 2019, Public Field #9 was renamed in honor of Hartford native and Negro league baseball player Johnny "Schoolboy" Taylor.[5]

Dillon Stadium

The lands for Dillon Stadium were a part of the original Colt gift. The stadium was Federal Emergency Relief Administration relief project and was dedicated in 1935, with the related Field House erected in 1939. Stadium seating capacity is 9,600, and includes a block west of the stadium for dedicated surface parking.[6] It has been host to various concerts and sports teams throughout its history. After not having been used for some years, the stadium was refurbished and partly rebuilt in 2018-19. It is the current home of the Hartford Athletic.[7]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Hartford Parks Department. "Colt Park and Dillon Stadium". hartford.gov. City of Hartford. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  3. O'Connell, PhD, James C.; Bruce Clouette (August 31, 2007). "National Historic Landmark Nomination, NPS Form 10-900" (PDF). United States National Park Service. Retrieved September 3, 2008.
  4. "City of Hartford Parks System". The Cultural Landscape Foundation. The Cultural Landscape Foundation. December 16, 2009. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  5. "Hartford Ballpark to be Named for Negro League Star". December 11, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  6. msassofoxct (June 4, 2014). "Hartford Recruiting NASL Soccer Franchise". foxct.com. WITC. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  7. Dillon Stadium homepage
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