Underneath that blue dome lies the east armory of a factory once owned by a man who changed American history, the innovator of the revolver, Samuel Colt. Sprawling around the crumbling red brickwork of the old Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, once the largest private armory in the world, are the remnants of Coltsville, the utopian village he built for his workers.

A model of 19th century industrial paternalism, Coltsville included a church, a social hall for dances and lectures, workers’ housing, a giant landscaped park home to deer and peacocks, sculpted botanical gardens, and thousands of feet of greenhouses filled with tropical fruit and flowers. Samuel Colt felt such responsibility for the welfare of his workers outside the factory that he went so far as to build Potsdam Village, to replicate the feel of the German village from which he imported his skilled craftsmen to work in his willow ware factory.

The National Park Service began having on-site presence in 2015, with workshops and tours, including up into the Blue Onion Dome which affords magnificent views of downtown Hartford, the Connecticut River and Colt Park, formerly the back yard of Armsmear, Samuel & Elizabeth Colt’s mansion. By 2016, an NPS ranger had taken up residence in the South Armory and was giving walking tours of Coltsville.

The old South, East and North armories are under renovation and the two 1855 brownstone buildings, the oldest structures on site, will become the National Park Service Visitor Center. The armories themselves have been or are being renovated into apartments, offices and education facilities.

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Best Western Plus New England Inn & Suites

Berlin

United States

John

NT$3,162 total

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Nov 30 - Dec 1

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Inn at Middletown

Washington Street Historic District

United States

Katharine

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Quality Inn Cromwell - Middletown

Cromwell

United States

Jamie

NT$2,087 total

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Nov 24 - Nov 25

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Comfort Inn East Windsor - Springfield

East Windsor

United States

Karin

NT$3,071 total

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Dec 2 - Dec 3

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Days Inn by Wyndham Windsor Locks / Bradley Intl Airport

Windsor Locks

United States

Douglas

NT$2,289 total

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Nov 23 - Nov 24

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Home2 Suites by Hilton Bristol

Bristol

United States

Jael

NT$4,570 total

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Dec 18 - Dec 19

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Best Western Hartford Hotel & Suites

South Meadows

United States

Christian

NT$3,398 total

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Nov 27 - Nov 28

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Hampton Inn & Suites Hartford-Manchester

Manchester

United States

Elizabeth

NT$3,794 total

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Best Western Hartford Hotel & Suites

Best Western Hartford Hotel & Suites

10/10 Excellent

"Nice place to stay! Very clean and comfortable "

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