Frequently Asked Questions

No, Coltsville National Park is not currently open to the public. The National Park Service is working to secure the donation of the two brownstones that will become the park. In the past, tours of the dome were completed through the NPS, at this time there are no dome tours but CHP is working to reincorporate this programming. You can take a self-guided walking tour using the Coltsville NHP App created by the National Park Service. The NPS has also created an interactive virtual dome tour which can be viewed at the bottom of this page.

Coltsville is one of many new partnership parks in the National Park Service. The older national park model saw everything owned and controlled by the federal government, think Yellowstone, etc.. In partnership parks, such as Coltsville National Historical Park, many private individual owners, the National Park Service, civic and social groups work together to preserve the park’s resources and tell the stories that make that park significant?

A base estimate would be about 25,000. However, Coltsville could be as significant as the Lowell National Historical Park and the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, both of which attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and contribute significantly to the revitalization of their communities.

Join our partnership! Coltsville Heritage Partnership cannot succeed without volunteers and donations. Sign up for our email list for more information about becoming involved or donate to CHP.

Development of the park is determined by the National Park Service in consultation with the City, Advisory Commission, and private landowners. The Park Service requires ownership of a minimum of 10,000 square feet. Included in this square footage will be space for interpretive and educational programming, guest services, gift shop, and exhibition space. Additionally, Colt Gateway and the National Park Service are exploring safety concerns and ease of access to the historic blue-onion dome atop the East Armory.

The entire Coltsville Historic District is also nationally significant because it is a relatively intact example of a mid-19th-century planned industrial district. The Colts built a workers’ community surrounding the factory that included housing, gardens, a social hall, beer garden, and library, and a church and parish house. Much of that remains today and comprises City of Hartford property, privately owned homes and businesses, and all other Colt-related property.

The Colt history is much larger and more important than just the making of guns. It’s a story of precise engineering; the first multi-national company; the creation of a model factory and community; legendary salesmanship; and techniques developed in arms making that were adapted to many other local and national products such as bicycles, typewriters, sewing machines, and automobiles. Samuel Colt and The Colt Armory’s influence led to the creation of dozens of factories and manufacturing companies between New Haven, CT, and Windsor, VT the area was nicknamed “Precision Valley.”

Additionally, it is a story of Elizabeth Jarvis Colt involving love and loss, Elizabeth’s ownership of the factory for 39 years after Samuel’s death in 1862, rebuilding of the factory after a near-total loss to fire in 1864, as well as Elizabeth’s amazing philanthropy and leadership in social causes of the day. Elizabeth Jarvis Colt accomplished all of these things prior to women having the right to vote.

In her will, Elizabeth Jarvis Colt left money for the construction of a wing at the Wadsworth to showcase art and memorabilia. Her will also specified that Armsmear was to be used as a home for widows and orphans of Episcopalian clergy and that all the land between Armsmear and the Colt factory (105 acres) was to be turned over to the City of Hartford as a public park. Colt Park became part of the Hartford Park System during Hartford’s “Rain of Parks”, a period when Hartford gained more than 1,200 square acres of parklands. This period at the turn of the 20th century put a spotlight on Hartford as a leader in the Parks Movement across the United States.

Coltsville Heritage Partnership, Inc. will be the official Friends Group for the Coltsville National Historical Park. Our functions will augment and support the National Park Service (NPS) by providing a tax-exempt corporation to handle donations for projects and CHP membership fees. The National Park Service, while receiving funds from the U.S. Government, is not allowed to raise funds itself. CHP has the capability to receive funds to support programming, create educational materials, and prioritize maintenance on the properties not owned by the NPS.

Coltsville Heritage Partnership (CHP’s) goals are directed at the protection, preservation, and enhancement of Coltsville’s heritage; cultural resources; and built environment. We believe that building strategic relationships, with the City of Hartford, CT State Library, Preservation CT, the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford Preservation Alliance, the Sheldon-Charter Oak Neighborhood, Colt Park Foundation, the Hartford community-at-large, as well as, Colt Gateway, the Science Center of CT, Riverfront Recapture, and other cultural and informational resources will be the key to a successful National Park and an economic driver for the region. CHP will actively involve each of these resources in an effort to provide rich context to the Colt story and create engaging experiences for the park’s visitors.

Short answer: No. The arms manufacturing business is highly cyclical. When the firearms business slowed at Colt’s, usually between wars, the company manufactured non-firearm products under its own brand name. It also manufactured products contracted for by other companies and rented space to other manufacturing businesses. Often these businesses drew upon the skilled workforce and technological innovations of the Colt Fire Arms plant. Most touted their address as “Colt’s Armory” in their advertisements, trading on the company’s reputation for reliability and precision manufacturing. Colt made products including Baxter Portable steam engines, Noark electrical equipment, such as switch boxes; Morrison and Charter Oak sewing machines; Universal printing presses; Thorne’s typesetting machines; Federal adding machines; Charter Oak and Archimedean lawnmowers; Auto san commercial dishwashers; and Railway Alarm ticket punches for trains and streetcars. The Colt Plastics division, which operated between 1920 and 1955, manufactured firearm grips, electric plugs, and outlets under the name “ColtRock,” buttons, costume jewelry, and other consumer products.

Armsmear, “meadow of arms”, was constructed in 1856 as a wedding present from Samuel Colt to Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt presented the year of their marriage. It was built of stone in the style of an Italian villa – massive and refined. The Colt’s occupied Armsmear in 1857 and promptly began to develop its gardens with the assistance of architects Cleveland and Copeland. In 1861 – 1862, glass-domed conservatories, inspired by London’s Crystal Palace, were added. At its peak, Armsmear’s grounds contained about 2,600 feet of greenhouses, as well as ponds, extensive gardens, fountains, a statuary, and a deer paddock.

Sam lived in Armsmear for approximately 5 years, from 1857 until his death in 1862. He was initially buried on the grounds near the graves of Sam and Elizabeth’s children, amidst weeping willows known as the Grove of Graves. The bodies were eventually moved to the beautiful new (in 1864) Cedar Hill Cemetery.

When Sam Colt purchased the land adjacent to the Connecticut River for his armory, he knew the land flooded in the freshet each year. To make the factory area useable he created two miles of dykes around his 250 acres of land. To help with land erosion he planted willow trees on the banks. This happened to be a period of time when willow furniture was truly in fashion. Sam’s determination to utilize the willow in handcrafted furniture brought him to Potsdam Germany where he found a group of willow furniture makers. He enticed them to move to Hartford with the promise to build them homes similar to their German houses, along with the creation of a beer garden and recreational space. Most of the homes built for these workers still exist on Curcombe Street. The Colt Willow Works factory, which was located directly behind these homes on Warwarme, was later destroyed by fire. Willow furniture went out of style in 1873.

Click here to learn more about the buildings that make up the Colt Armory Complex.

The Coltsville National Historical Park is located in the Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhoods. Coltsville Historic District makes up a majority of the Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhood, which is a neighborhood revitalization zone (NRZ). The entire neighborhood consists of 335-acres, 250-acres of which is the Coltsville Historic District. The neighborhood takes its name from a prominent early settler and the famous oak tree (The Charter Oak), which stood close to the corner of Charter Oak Place and Charter Oak Avenue.

Substantial investment has gone into the Sheldon-Charter Oak neighborhood (the Coltsville area) from municipal, state, federal, and private sources in recent years. A National Park at Coltsville will capitalize on those investments and take advantage of Hartford’s multitude of historical and cultural assets across the city. According to the National Park Conservation Association, every $1 invested in National Parks generates $10 in economic activity. The National Parks Service conducted a study finding that visitors to National Parks across the country, annually support 250,000 jobs and $30 billion in economic activity. Connecticut’s Commission on Culture and Tourism estimates that every $1 spent on tourism in Connecticut results in $1.5 of economic activity. The Coltsville National Park would result in $11 million in visitor spending, according to a 2008 study.

No. The National Park Service will own only two buildings at the Colt Complex, the Forge and the Foundry. These are the only original buildings that survived the fire of 1864. The rest of the actual industrial complex, owned by Colt Gateway, consists of beautifully renovated buildings housing apartments and commercial space.

Outside of the manufacturing complex itself, are many privately owned houses and condominiums; Colt Park, a City-owned park (left to the city by Elizabeth Colt); the Church of the Good Shepherd and Parish house built by Elizabeth; the former Colt homestead (Armsmear), now a home for women of character; and several buildings built by Elizabeth for the families of senior Colt managers; and the James Colt home built for Sam’s brother.