Museum regains stolen Colt revolver

Newsletter | March 24, 2023

Trivia question

For whom is Barry Square named?

Scroll to the bottom of the newsletter for the answer.

Headlines

1847 Colt Whitneyville-Walker revolver returned to Museum of CT History following multi-year FBI investigation - Museum news release, March 23, 2023

Two historic buildings in Hartford’s Bushnell South could add 100 more apartments - Hartford Courant, March 22, 2023

CRDA works to salvage USS Hartford’s ship bell, a forgotten piece of Hartford history - Hartford Business Journal, March 17, 2023

CT Attorney General seeks to buy time for historic Hartford chapel facing demolition - Hartford Courant, March 16, 2023

Making Batterson Park a Regional Destination Again - News release from state Rep. Matt Ritter of Hartford

Events

Witchcraft Exoneration Panel

Wednesday, March 29, 1-2 p.m.

Old State House, 800 Main St., Hartford

From the Facebook page of Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz: “As Women’s History Month nears an end, join me, State Representative Jane Garibay, Senator Saud Anwar, and CT historians to discuss Connecticut’s history of persecuting women by wrongly accusing them of witchcraft. We’ll consider the history of the trials, how descendants of these women are working to seek justice, and the pending legislation that would exonerate them.” Registration

For background on this issue, including the Hartford angle, see the March 3 newsletter.

Trivia question answer

South End of Hartford with stone sign in foreground saying welcome to Barry Square and St Augustine Church in the background

On July 23, 1934, the City Council (then called the Common Council) assigned the name Barry Square to the intersection of five streets in the city’s South End: Campfield Avenue, Maple Avenue, Barker Street, Webster Street, and Bond Street. The name honors the Rev. Monsignor Michael W. Barry, the longtime pastor of Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church, which dominates the Square. A petition calling for the move had received 4,000 signatures, according to the Hartford Courant. Born in Middletown, Barry led the Saint Augustine parish from its founding in 1902 until his death in 1938 at age 74. He had been ill for about six years, the Courant reported.

View more photos of the Square on Instagram.

Sources:

“History of Hartford Streets,” by F. Perry Close, published in 1969 by the Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford.

Hartford Courant, July 24, 1934, page 22: “Appointment to Tax Body by Council,” and March 1, 1938, page 1: “Monsignor Barry, Pastor of St. Augustine’s, Dies.”

More trivia questions at HartfordHistory.net