Farmington Avenue is located in the central section of Hartford. It begins at the edge of downtown, just west of Union Station. The avenue is a primary commercial district for two city neighborhoods, Asylum Hill and the West End.

Locations

1. Statue of Alice Cogswell
Gateway to Farmington Avenue and the Asylum Hill neighborhood, this statue was erected by the National Association for the Deaf, commemorating the establishment of the first school for the deaf in the United States. It was located one half block away on Asylum Avenue where The Hartford (insurance company) has its home office.

2. YWCA
The YWCA of the Hartford Region is a women's membership association which provides social services and advocacy programs. www.ywcahartford.org

3. Aetna
Aetna Insurance Company was founded in Hartford in 1853 and provides health insurance for millions. It has made its headquarters on Farmington Avenue for about 75 years.

4. St Joseph’s Cathedral
The Cathedral, a large modern structure with stunning stain glass windows, is the seat of the Hartford Roman Catholic Archdiocese.

5. Trinity Church
An Episcopal Church with a 140-year history in Hartford, this church was once located in downtown Hartford and was moved stone by stone in the late 1800’s. www.trinityhartford.org

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6. Ahern Funeral Home
Listed on the State Register of Historic Places, this building is a good example of Italianate style houses that were common in the Asylum Hill neighborhood beginning in the mid 1800’s.

7. The Connecticut Culinary Institute
Built in the mid 1980’s as a training center for Aetna employees and later the Hastings Hotel, the site is now home to the CT Culinary Institute which trains chefs and offers diploma programs.

8. Arts Center
The Hartford Courant Arts Center is home to two performing groups – Hartford Symphony www.hartfordsymphony.org and CT Opera www.connecticutopera.com. The center also houses staff of the Greater Hartford Arts Council and its dance studios are used by the Hartt School of the University of Hartford.

9. Mark Twain Library
A branch of the Hartford Public Library.

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10. Diner
This 1950’s era diner, with classic chrome and frosted glass, has been a neighborhood institution for decades. The owner is seeking a new restaurant operator.

11. Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
Residence to internationally known author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the home and grounds are open to the public. www.harrietbeecherstowe.net

12. Mark Twain House
Mark Twain wrote Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn while living at his Farmington Avenue home. www.marktwainhouse.org

13. Hartford Children’s Theatre
A carriage house was converted into an 80-seat Black Box theater for children’s productions. www.hartfordchildrenstheatre.org

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14. Immanuel Congregational Church
Dedicated in 1899, this church was modeled after a fourth-century church in France, unlike the traditional Gothic and Romanesque styles popular in that era. www.iccucc.org

15. Park River
Here the north branch of the Park River goes underground, following a southeast route, passing near the State Armory, under Bushnell Park, the central Hartford Public Library and emerging into the Connecticut River south of Adriaen’s Landing.

16. Clemens Place
In the late 1970’s the Clemens Place development renovated a densely settled 1920’s era complex of 46 apartment buildings, preserving many architectural features.www.clemensplace.com

17. West End Community Center
An energetic group of West End residents established a community center in 2002 for all neighborhood residents to build and strengthen communal ties and civic goals. www.volunteersolutions.org/uwcact/org/222869.html

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18. Offices of Farmington Avenue Alliance and Farmington Asylum Business District

19. Braza Restaurant
Much of the façade of the 1920's era Colonial Theatre was preserved and restored in a project that brought a new restaurant to the neighborhood. Steel beams from the former theatre's marquee frame an attractive patio.

20. Albano Ballet and Performing Arts Center
Tucked behind a vacant Shell station at the corner of Farmington and Girard Avenue, its carriage house is now used as a dance center. Here Hartford native Katherine Hepburn learned how to two-step as a student at the Oxford School that once used the building as its gymnasium. www.albanoballet.org

21. Ichiban & 22. Tisane’s
Adaptive re-use of a former ice cream shop into a Japanese and Korean food restaurant; fried chicken place becomes hip coffee bar and restaurant.

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23. Highland bowl (AKA The Alley)
In the basement of the CVS store is a duck pin bowling alley bought by a group of 45 West End investors. After six years, neighbors sold The Alley to a professional duck pin bowler who plans to keep the balls rolling.

24. United Methodist Church
The church has welcomed West End civic groups. The West End Civic Association meets here and it provides space for a seasonal farmers market. (www.UMCofhartford.org)

25. 641 Farmington Avenue.
Former turn of the century house was renovated and expanded for office use by Prospect Financial Services after a devastating fire left it in ruins and vacant for several years.

26. West Hartford Town Line

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