Still Summer!

While Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, September in Connecticut can still be lovely, with sparkling clear days and cool nights. We had such a one yesterday, so K and I took the kiddos on a hike up Talcott Mountain. There are wonderful scenic overlooks along the way, and the path runs along the ridgeline after about a mile of uphill trekking.

Typically, the children like to make the grownups nervous by inching toward the edge of sheer drop-offs or scrambling up over large granite boulders.

The reward for the 1.4 mile climb is the Heublein Tower, standing 165 feet tall at the crest of the mountain and overlooking the scenic, twisty Farmington River.

Gilbert Heublein was a German immigrant who came to the United States with his family at the age of seven. Years later, when he and his fiancée, Alice, hiked to the top of Talcott Mountain, he pledged to build her a castle there. After they married, they settled into a mansion on Prospect Avenue in Hartford. The first phase of the tower was completed in 1914, and the structure was essentially finished by 1929. It featured six levels of sleeping quarters and the first residential elevator in Connecticut. The Heubleins summered there, and year-round caretakers lived onsite. A ballroom on the top floor was the scene of elegant parties for those Hartford elite lucky enough to receive an invitation.

Gilbert’s wealth derived from a thriving liquor business, which nearly broke him during Prohibition. His fortune was saved, however, by his acquisition of the A1 Sauce brand, which kept them afloat till 1933, when Prohibition was repealed.

After Gilbert’s death in 1937, the tower stood empty for about seven years, suffering the ravages of weather, neglect, and vandals. His grandson sold the tower to the Hartford Times newspaper, which saved it and held star-studded events there for twenty years; notable guests included Dwight Eisenhower, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Ronald Reagan.

In the early 60s, the Times sold the property to real estate developers who had a plan to create a restaurant surrounded by apartments and houses along the ridge. Local residents were up in arms over this scheme and established the “Save Talcott Mountain” organization to block development and preserve the site. Eventually, the State of Connecticut purchased the property, eventually renovating it and operating it as a destination for day-trippers. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.