Background on Coltsville

The Coltsville study area is a 260-acre industrial area in Hartford, CT. It was recognized as the Colt Industrial National Register District in 1976. Within this historic district is inventor Samuel Colt's house Armsmear, which was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1966. Also in Coltsville are 11 historic industrial buildings located on 17 acres. In 2003, a private developer Colt Gateway LLC (Homes for America Holdings, Inc.) acquired these buildings and is redeveloping most of them for commercial, residential, and office tenants. The developer has offered to make available appropriate space to create a site for National Park Service use. Also within the study area, but in separate ownership, are former Colt worker housing units, a church and parish house built by Samuel Colt's wife Elizabeth, and several other buildings associated with Colt history. The study area borders Interstate-91, which parallels the Connecticut River, and is close to the Hartford central business district, where the State Capitol, Museum of Connecticut History, and the Wadsworth Atheneum are located. The Museum of Connecticut History and the Wadsworth Atheneum are major repositories of Colt-related artifacts and archives.

The founder of Coltsville was Samuel Colt, who was born in Hartford in 1814 and died there in 1862. He obtained his first patent for a revolver in 1836 and went on to found a company that is still in operation today, located in West Hartford, Connecticut. The Colt revolver was a revolutionary weapon that changed military tactics. The Colt name is known throughout the world. Colt firearms manufactured at this plant were used in every major conflict from the Mexican War through the Vietnam War.

Colt's salesmanship was legendary, and the company grew due to his marketing, advertising, and public relations skills. At the 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, Colt revolvers were displayed and their mechanized production demonstrated to highlight the “American System of Manufacturing.” Colt was so impressed with his reception in England that he would build a factory there, becoming the first American to set up a manufacturing plant overseas.

The Colt armory's distinctive blue onion dome has been a Hartford landmark since in 1855. In order to attract skilled workers, Colt built a community surrounding the factory that included housing, gardens, and a social hall and library. The original factory burned in 1864, but was rebuilt soon after. Many of the Coltsville structures are still extant and are part of the Colt Industrial National Register District that was listed in 1976.

The Colt story is also the story of Elizabeth Colt, who owned the factory for 39 years after her husband's death in 1862. Mrs. Colt was, perhaps, the leading philanthropist and art patron in Hartford during this period and donated such Coltsville buildings as the Church of the Good Shepherd and the Caldwell Colt Memorial Parish House.

The history of Coltsville complements that of the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Service in Springfield, MA, 25 miles north of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Springfield Armory produced military shoulder arms while Colt made handguns for the military, civilians, and the export market. Many of the technological innovations developed in the early 19th century at the Springfield Armory, a federal installation, were adopted by the Colt factory and improved upon in the private sector. As the skills developed in firearms manufacture were given broader application, the corridor between New Haven, CT, and Windsor, VT, became known as the “Precision Valley.” Developments in arms-making were adapted to manufacture other metal products, such as sewing machines, typewriters, bicycles, and automobiles.