ABOUT COLT PARK FOUNDATION

Colt Park Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that fundraises and advocates for the well-being of Colt Park. In collaboration with the Friends of Colt Park, we organize park clean-ups, plantings and fun events for residents. Colt Park Foundation also applies for grants to help improve park amenities. We prioritize the selection of grants in terms of natural, recreational, public safety and maintenance needs of the park. The foundation has several generous supporters: Eagle Scout Troop 105, Hartford Public Schools Art Department, Wadsworth Atheneum, Los Amigos Softball League, Mega Education, CID, Coltsville National Historical Park, Greater Hartford Garden Club, Sustainable CT, Eversource, Our Piece of the Pie, Love Hartford, Luna Productions, River Growers CT, Unity City of Hartford, the Connecticut Urban Forest Council, and the Greater Hartford Arts Council.

ABOUT COLT PARK

Colt Park will soon be part of Coltsville National Historical Park.
Location: 106 Wethersfield Ave, Hartford, Connecticutm 06114
Area: 106 acres
Established: 1905
National Park Status: pending

Colt Park is a city park in Hartford’s Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhood. Officially established in 1905, the park was gifted by the former Armsmear Estate of Samuel Colt and Elizabeth Jarvis Colt. The grounds were originally designed in High Victorian Gothic style, and served as Colt's exclusive "pleasure-grounds." The park boasted large reflecting pools, rustic furnishings, fountains, urns, statuary, artificial ponds for fish and foul, a deer park, orchards, fields and more. Colt Park was the last major addition to the City of Hartford Parks System, which was gifted to the city in 1905 following the passing of Elizabeth Colt.

Today the park is home to playgrounds, athletic fields, a pool, a splash pad, pavilions, walking paths, natural beauty and open green space. Colt Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 8, 1976, designated as part of the Colt Industrial District (Coltsville), valued for its association with industrialist Samuel Colt. It is bounded by Wawarme, Wethersfield, Hendricxsen, Van Dyke Avenues and Stonington, Maseek and Sequassen Streets. In 2019, “Field #9” was renamed in honor of Hartford native and Negro league baseball player Johnny "Schoolboy" Taylor. In 2016, Coltsville was authorized to be a National Historical Park, however the official designation has yet to be established.