Science & Invention

Stop #1: Samuel Colt Monument

John Massey Rhind

The monument to Samuel Colt, the first industrial tycoon in Hartford and inventor of the Colt Revolver, marks the entrance to Colt Park. John Massey Rhind was commissioned to complete the monument in 1905 by Elizabeth Jarvis Colt in memory of her husband who died at the age of 47.

Stop #2: Dr. Horace Wells

Truman Howe Bartlett

Hartford dentist, Dr. Horace Wells (1815-1848), discovered the pain reducing effects of anesthesia in December 1844. He died tragically by his own hand in 1848 but gained posthumous credit and fame for his life-saving idea.

Stop #3: Horace Wells Memorial Plaque

Enoch Smith Woods

Stop #4: Keney Memorial Tower

Charles Coolidge Haight

Designed by Charles Coolidge Haight, the Keney Memorial Clock Tower was dedicated in 1898 in honor of Rebecca Turner Keney by her sons Walter and Henry Keney.

Stop #5: Doctor Gallaudet and His First Deaf Mute Pupil

Daniel Chester French

Daniel Chester French's 1924 sculpture of Doctor Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was commissioned by the National Association for the Deaf to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the American School for the Deaf. The West Hartford monument is a second casting of French's 1889 bronze original which is at Gallaudet College in Washington D.C.

Stop #6: The Craftsman

Evelyn Beatrice Longman

Evelyn Longman's Craftsman is an allegory of Industry made in 1931 during the Great Depression as a tribute to Connecticut's precision engineering labor force.