Butler-McCook Homestead "Walk"

This was supposed to be Part 2 of my National Trails Day walks. It was billed as an "educational walk" and described as "a walking tour of historic Main Street in Hartford as the Butler-McCook family experienced it. Tour ends in the 150 year old Victorian garden."

I was interested in the Butler-McCook House because I walk past it about once a week (on our way to lunch at Ashley's Restaurant). I think I had visited it when I first moved to Hartford (from Clevo) ages ago.

I parked at work and walked the few blocks and arrived on-time (!) for the 2 p.m. tour. Unfortunately, there was no tour of the Main Street neighborhood. The tour leader had bugged out at the last minute and her replacement was away on vacation.

But wait, all was not lost. Instead of a walking tour, we got a FREE tour (normally $10) of the historic Butler-McCook House (& Main Street History Center). I think there were 3 or 4 of us that had showed up for the event. So what the heck, I stayed for the inside tour. Besides, the inside was comfortably air conditioned, especially compared to the natural heat and humidity outside.

Butler-McCook House.

For 189 years the Butler-McCook House & Garden was home to four generations of a family who participated in, witnessed, and recorded the evolution of Main Street between the American Revolution and the mid-twentieth century (1971). The house's exterior looks much as it did when it was built in 1782 by Daniel Butler. The McCook connection came by marriage and is related to the (Ohio) "Fighting McCooks" of Civil War fame.

Inside are the original furnishings ranging from Connecticut-crafted colonial furniture to Victorian-era toys and paintings to samurai armor acquired during a trip to Japan. The objects were accumulated over the course of almost two centuries by members of this extraordinary clan, which included physicians, industrialists, missionaries, artists, globe trotters and pioneering educators and social reformers.

Entering the Garden.

Behind the property is a restored Victorian ornamental garden, originally laid out in 1865. The McCook family’s garden oasis was designed by famed landscape architect Jacob Weidenmann, the designer of Bushnell Park and Cedar Hill Cemetery, and lovingly cared for by the McCooks over one hundred years. It is the only surviving domestic commission by Weidenmann. It features beds filled with peonies, roses and iris.

The Gardens (looking south).

Although I didn't get the walking tour I expected, I did experience a nice tour of the house and gardens. Ironically, both of today's "walks" were connected to Jacob Weidenmann and the Butler-McCook house also had the Ohio connection.

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Links:

http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2016/06/trails-day.html
http://www.ctlandmarks.org/content/butler-mccook-house-garden

http://cedarhillfoundation.org/notable-residents/jacob-weidenmann
http://www.bushnellpark.org
http://www.cedarhillcemetery.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_McCooks
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Written Saturday September 10, 2016