Hartford Train Station
ArtistPainted by
Unknown
Dateafter 1843
MediumPainting; oil on canvas in gilt wood frame
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (stretcher height x width): 19 3/4 x 30in. (50.2 x 76.2cm)
Frame (height x width x depth): 24 1/4 x 34 1/4 x 1 7/8in. (61.6 x 87 x 4.8cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineBequest of Mrs. Joan Morris in memory of her husband Vincent E. Morris
Object number1994.249.0
DescriptionA steam locomotive is emerging from between the two towers of a Romanesque revival style railroad station. Men and women and a stage coach are on the road at the right. Trees are at the far right. A large house is behind a fence on a grassy bank in the left background.
Label TextThough we might think of 19th century railroad stations as bustling, dirty, and noisy, this painting tells a different story. Built in 1849, Hartford's first railroad station faced Asylum Street at the bend of the Mill River. The design was based on architecture of an Italianate country villa, and is depicted here in a setting that is almost as serene as an Italian landscape. A few passengers, friends and family exchange greetings and farewells on the plaza ouside the station as a train pulls out, puffing clouds of smoke.
The towers held the offices of the two railroad companies which operated the railroad station, the New Haven, Hartford and Sprinfield and the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill. There were two tracks running through the center of the building, and the design was thought to be quite unique in its time and the station was illustrated in the newspapers of the period.
NotesSubject Note: The painting shows the first Union Station, erected in 1843. It is on the same site as the present (2014) building, erected in 1889.The towers held the offices of the two railroad companies which operated the railroad station, the New Haven, Hartford and Sprinfield and the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill. There were two tracks running through the center of the building, and the design was thought to be quite unique in its time and the station was illustrated in the newspapers of the period.
Status
Not on view
