National Register of Historic Places

Day House

Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut
Listed
April 15, 1971
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
71000909

About this property

The Katharine Seymour Day House is a historic house at 77 Forest Street in the historic Nook Farm district of Hartford, Connecticut. Built in 1884 for a local businessman seeking to compete stylistically with the adjacent Mark Twain House, it is a good local example of Queen Anne architecture. It now serves as the administrative center and library for the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The Katharine Seymour Day House is located in the Nook Farm area of Hartford's Asylum Hill neighborhood, at the southwest corner of Farmington Avenue and Forest Street. It is just east of the Mark Twain House, and north of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House. The house is a 2+1⁄2-story stone structure, built out of a multicolored combination of brownstone and limestone. It is a fine local example of Queen Anne Victorian architecture, with a busy exterior in terms of color and organization, with projecting gables, dormers and porches. The interior features high quality woodwork, plasterwork and tile. The house was designed by Francis H. Kimball and was built for Franklin Chamberlin; the project was completed in 1884. Chamberlin is believed to have built the house as a rival to the adjacent Mark Twain House; he had previously sold the adjacent land to Mark Twain on which his house was built. The house was later owned by Willie Olcott Burr, publisher of The Hartford Times newspaper. It was purchased by Harriet Beecher Stowe's grandniece Katharine Seymour Day in 1940, as part of a plan to preserve the surroundings of the Stowe House (which was also originally built for Chamberlin). Day established the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in 1941 as a nonprofit vehicle to preserve Stowe's legacy. The house now houses the center's administrative offices, and a research library containing many of Stowe's materials. National Register of Historic Places listings in Hartford, Connecticut

Location

77 Forest St.
Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut
41.76756, -72.70006

Categories

ARCHITECTURESOCIAL HISTORY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Overview
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The Land
The historic sites and place names around the location, and how this land was settled and used.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back millions of years.
LiDAR Terrain
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Conflict & War
The battles, raids and skirmishes fought near here, across every era of American conflict.
The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
The men who marched from here in the Civil War, named and traced where the record allows.
Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
How the town grew, who came, and what kind of place it became, traced through the census record.
Rivers & Rail
The rivers, canals and railroads that connected this place between 1830 and 1911.
Notable People
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Historical Maps
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Finds & Access
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Literature
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Spotlight
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Timeline
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Nearby Historic Sites

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, House
Industrial
0 mi
Twain, Mark, House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Laurel and Marshall Streets District
Listed
0.1 mi
Lyman House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Aetna Diner
Industrial
0.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Day House listed on the National Register?

Day House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 15, 1971.

What type of historic resource is Day House?

Day House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Day House?

The period of significance for Day House is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Day House?

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