Connecticut’s Old State House
Former Meeting Houses and State Houses
Connecticut’s Old State House is located in Hartford about halfway between the Connecticut State Capitol and the Connecticut River, facing east towards the river. It served as the state capitol from 1796 to 1878, and then as a city hall. Today it serves as a historic museum and provides civic space for special events inside and on the grounds known as State House Square.
The Old State House was designed in 1792 and built from 1793 to 1797 in a Federal architectural style by the architect Charles Bulfinch. It was constructed with a ground floor and first floor of Portland brownstone from Connecticut, and the upper two floors in a red brick using a Flemish bond pattern. The clock tower and domed cupola were added in 1827, and capped with the Statue of Justice, by John Stanwood.
Charles Bulfinch, 1763 to 1844, was among the first American architects. He was from Boston Massachusetts where he was educated at the Boston Latin School and Harvard University. From 1785 to 1788 he studied and toured in Europe including London, Paris, and Italy. He is noted for the origin of the Federal architectural style, and for his designs of the Massachusetts State House, Connecticut’s Old State House, the United States Capitol rotunda and dome, and the State House in Maine.
Ground Floor
The ground floor is used as a museum today providing a history of the State House buildings and overall State history. On the east side are ramps leading down to the ground floor, which is the visitor entrance, and steps leading up into the portico and the first floor which is the original main entrance to the building.
First Floor
There are entrances to the first floor on both the east and west sides leading into a Great Hall where on each side of the Hall are the former Governor’s Offices on one side and the former State Supreme Court on the other. The Great Hall includes a grand staircase leading up to the House and Senate Chambers.
The courtroom was home to the State Supreme Court, Superior Courts, and the County Court, and the building was often referred to as the courthouse instead of the State House. Today the room is used for special events, and on my visit there were displays on former slaves and historical events from that time period.
The decor includes Doric columns like those on the exterior portico to support the upper floors, and a balcony over the entrances for public viewing.
Second Floor
The Great Hall includes the Statue of Justice, a wooden statue that stood on the State House cupola from 1827 to 1976 when it was restored for display inside and then replaced with a fiberglass copy outside. It was sculpted by John Stanwood, and symbolizes the fair and equal administration of the law. Its form depicts a classical goddess from Greek and Roman mythology wearing a dress that was fashionable in the 1820s.
Senate Chamber
The Senate Chamber was designed in a Federal style interior with seating for 12 to 24 Senators, plus additional seating and gathering space for the public. An original portrait of George Washington, by Gilbert Stuart, is displayed behind the speaker.
Gilbert Stuart, 1755 to 1828, was born in the Rhode Island Colony, and studied under Cosmo Alexander in Scotland, and Benjamin West in England. He returned to the United States in 1793, and opened a studio in New York, and then Philadelphia where he obtained a commission where George Washington posed for his sketches and paintings.
House of Representatives Chamber
The House or Representatives Chamber was designed in a Victorian decorative style with seating for 50 representatives in the original desks and chairs. From the third floor a balcony is accessible over the entrance to the room for public viewing.
Third Floor
A partial third floor is accessible from the Great Hall providing access to committee rooms, offices, and the public gallery over the House Chamber.
Former Meeting Houses and State Houses
In 1636 the first English colonists arrived in Hartford and formed the Connecticut Colony. They built the first Meeting House in the Colony, which was a simple wood frame building with a steep hip roof.
In 1639 the first Meeting House was built in the New Haven Colony. It used similar wood frame construction as done in Hartford, but was much larger, with a second floor, and a cupola watch tower and bell tower capping the roof.
By 1664 Connecticut was formed by the merging of the Connecticut Colony, Saybrook Colony, and the New Haven Colony. And by 1701 until soon after the Civil War, Hartford and New Haven served as co-Capitols, meaning that the General Assembly agreed to meet in each city, every other year.
In 1704 New Haven built what became their first State House. It was constructed of brick masonry, and was two stories in height over a ground floor with some additional floor area in the roof, and included a domed cupola on the roof.
In 1720 Hartford completed what became their first State House, constructed of wood framing with clapboard siding. It was a two story building with a smaller third floor area in the roof, and was designed for the House of Representatives, the Governor, and the Governor’s Council, a predecessor to the Senate.
This State House suffered fire damage in 1783, but was used up until 1796 when Hartford’s second State House was completed. It was located on State House Square where the current Old State House is located today.
In 1797 the second State House known today as the Old State House, was completed in a Federal architectural style by the architect Charles Bulfinch, and used until 1878 when the current Capitol was completed.
In 1830 the second State House in New Haven was completed. It was designed in a Greek Revival architectural style by the architect Ithiel Town, and resembled a Greek Temple.
After the Civil War, Hartford became the permanent seat of government in Connecticut and the Old State House in Hartford was used as the seat of government until the current State Capitol was completed. Construction on the Capitol lasted from 1871 to 1878.
As noted in Part 1 on the Connecticut State Capitol, the original design by the architect Richard Upjohn included a tall clock tower, which the Capitol Construction Committee wanted changed to a dome. Upjohn revised the drawings to include the dome resulting in a somewhat eclectic design, but beautifully integrated into a masterful work of art.
From 1878 to 1915 the Old State House was used as the Hartford City Hall. The building fell into disrepair and was nearly torn down, but by 1918 preservationist found funding and support to renovate and preserve the building.
After the preservation work, it was used for a variety of purposes including recruitment and the selling of war bonds during World Wars I and II, and as the headquarters for the Hartford Chapter of the Red Cross. Today it is a beautiful work of architecture that is well maintained and filled with history.
Travel Notes
It rained on my first visit to the State House while traveling between my home in Huntsville Alabama and Boston, but I did get to tour the interior museum. I returned later that month from Boston to get better exterior photographs. It was a two hour drive making for an easy day trip.
There is a Tesla Supercharger station downtown within walking distance to the Old State House, which proved to be a convenient charging and parking location for my tours.
Notes and References
Story and photographs by David Smitherman, with data collected from onsite inscriptions and brochures, Wikipedia, Google Maps, and Google Lens. Site visits were made in August 2023.
John Stanwood: I have not been able to locate biographical information on John Stanwood, the sculptor for the Statue of Justice. If anyone has information please feel free to send it my way by email at david.v.smitherman@gmail.com.
Early State House images: https://www.cga.ct.gov/hco/books/State_Officers_Members_CT_1776-1881.pdf.
“Temples of Democracy: The State Capitols of the U.S.A.,” by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and William Seale, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, London, 1976.