Saturday, June 4, 2016

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:

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Tree Tour at Cedar Hill

(Photo courtesy of Cedar Hill Cemetery FB 2016).
Can you spot me in this picture?
(Hint: I am under a tree-towards the left in the picture).

Another Saturday morning (10 - 11:30 a.m.) guided walking tour in Cedar Hill Cemetery. FREE (my favorite price). June 4, 2016. This was the first of two walks I planned in order to celebrate National Trails Day.

The official blurb: Tree expert John Kehoe leads this 2-mile walk featuring rare and notable trees. The tour will highlight the beautiful European Weeping Beech, the unusual Umbrella Magnolia and the Huss Hemlock named for  a resident of Cedar Hill.

Huss monument flanked by 2 Huss Hemlocks.

According to the Cedar Hill Foundation website, the 270 acre Cedar Hill Cemetery boasts more than 2,000 trees, representing over 100 species and varieties. Many of Cedar Hill's trees were imported specifically to adorn the cemetery's landscape. European weeping beech, Chinese witch-hazel, flowering dogwood, weeping cherry, tulip, magnolia and ginkgo are just some of the cemetery's wide variety of trees. Weeping Alaska cypress, river birch, dawn redwood and English oak were added during the development of burial sections on the lower slope of Cedar Mountain.

(Courtesy of Cedar Hill Cemetery FB 2016)

The Cedar Hill Cemetery website notes that Cedar Hill is a member of the Connecticut Tree Protective Association and has been honored by that organization for its "exemplary professionalism and dedication to the protection and care of Connecticut trees." Horticulture specialists maintain an inventory of Cedar Hill's trees to serve as an educational resource and enhance future planning of this distinguished arboretum.

The Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation website also includes a page containing self-guided tours including one for notable trees. The download tour from the website includes 23 tree types located in the historic section of the cemetery. The Foundation also publishes  several brochures including a "Notable Trees Guide" (see image) which includes three different tours (which includes 12 more types of trees).

For the less independent or the tree neophyte, today's walking tour was "Tree-mendous" (couldn't resist). Mr. Kehoe walked through the historic section of the cemetery stopping at noteworthy trees and giving a short talk. I don't know much about tree types so this tour was a good introduction. I came away with the impression that Connecticut's trees are faced with lots of challenges (e.g., invasive bugs and diseases) that can often go unnoticed until it it too late. One thing that amazed me was that even when a tree is doomed, it might live for years until it is weakened and succumbs to winds or the weather.

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Links:

http://cedarhillfoundation.org/about/contributing-to-nature/http://www.cedarhillcemetery.org/grounds
https://ctpa.org/
http://cedarhillfoundation.org/visit-cedar-hill/self-guided-tours/
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Written Labor Day (M09-05-2016).
Updated Sat 09-10-2016 for National Trails Day.

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Trails Day


Last year I missed National Trails Day, because it is the same weekend as West Hartford Days (and Richard and his mom were working at a carnival). This year I found a brochure that listed 200+ events throughout Connecticut.

After careful consideration and planning, I decided to attend an educational walk at (one of my favorite places) Cedar Hill Cemetery in the morning and another walk in the afternoon in downtown Hartford at the historic Butler-McCook House & Garden.

Although things didn't quite go as planned, I did attend both walks and enjoyed a beautiful day outside in sunny weather.


Postscript: My plan was to attend West Hartford Days on Sunday but it rained.

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Links:

 http://nationaltrailsday.americanhiking.org
http://www.ctwoodlands.org/ct-trails-weekend
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2016/06/tree-tour-at-cedar-hill.html
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2016/06/butler-mccook-homestead-walk.html

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Written Saturday September 10, 2016.

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