Old State House

The Old State House replaced an earlier colonial statehouse and was completed in 1796, its design attributed to Charles Bulfinch, the most important American architect of the early republic, whose work includes the Massachusetts State House and portions of the United States Capitol. Its balanced brick facade, cupola, and refined Federal detailing made it a model of the young nation's civic architecture.

For close to a hundred years it was the center of Connecticut government. For part of that era Connecticut had two capital cities, alternating its legislature between Hartford and New Haven, and this building was Hartford's statehouse. When a grand new capitol opened on the hill above the city in the late 19th century, the old building's role shifted, and it served for decades as Hartford's city hall.

The restored interior returns visitors to its early days, including the graceful Senate chamber, and interprets the building's long service at the heart of Connecticut's public life.

In 1839 a group of Africans who had been illegally seized and sold into slavery seized control of the schooner Amistad off Cuba and were eventually taken into custody after the ship reached United States waters. Their case first came before a federal court here at the Old State House in Hartford, beginning one of the most significant freedom cases in American history.

The captives, led by a man known as Cinque, had been kidnapped from West Africa in violation of laws banning the Atlantic slave trade. Abolitionists rallied to their defense, and the legal fight over whether they were property or free people wrongfully enslaved climbed all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which in 1841 ruled that they were free.

The Old State House marks its part in that story, honoring the Amistad captives' fight for freedom and the abolitionist cause it galvanized, a reminder that this graceful building witnessed one of the era's defining struggles over slavery and human rights.

One of the building's most beloved features is a re-creation of Joseph Steward's Museum of Curiosities, an early American museum that once occupied the upper floor. Its cabinets of oddities, natural specimens, portraits, and eccentric artifacts capture the wide-eyed spirit of museum-going in the young republic and delight visitors today.

Outside, the Old State House sits at the symbolic center of Hartford, on the site where the city's public life has gathered for centuries. The land here along the Connecticut River was long the homeland of the region's Native peoples before it became the heart of a colonial and then American city.

The plaza around the building hosts farmers markets, performances, and civic gatherings in the warmer months, keeping the old statehouse at the center of the city's life as it has been for more than two centuries.

Spring brings the surrounding plaza and downtown back to life, a pleasant time to combine the statehouse with a riverfront walk.

Summer fills the plaza with markets and events and offers the fullest visiting schedule, an easy anchor for a downtown Hartford day on foot.

Fall is a handsome season downtown and a natural pairing with the city's museums during leaf-season travel.

Winter narrows outdoor activity but the building's interpretive rooms and curiosities make a warm indoor stop, though hours can be limited, so check ahead.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.