Hidden Gems Of Connecticut

HARTFORD, CT — It's a milestone year for this week's Hidden Gem — the Wadsworth Atheneum in Downtown Hartford, a building resembling a castle, tucked into a corridor of large commercial buildings that weren't there when it was founded.

Anyway, welcome to the Wadsworth on the 180th anniversary of it becoming the first public art museum in the United States.

Museum officials tell us that, on June 1 in 1842, Connecticut Governor Chauncey Cleveland signed an act formally establishing the Wadsworth. Construction began at 600 Main Street in Hartford shortly after and it opened in 1844.

The inspiration behind the Atheneum was Daniel Wadsworth, the son of highly successful merchant and Revolutionary War figure Jeremiah Wadsworth.

Museum officials tell us that Daniel Wadsworth collected paintings by top American artists like John Trumbull, Frederic Edwin Church, and Thomas Cole.

The Wadsworth is home to a collection of nearly 50,000 works of art, spanning 5,000 years and encompassing European art "from antiquity to contemporary" as well as American art from the 1600s through the present day.

The term "atheneum," was popular in the 19th century to describe a cultural institution with "a library, works of art and artifacts, devoted to learning history, literature, art, and science."

See more on the Wadsworth here.

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The Hidden Gems series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path, all located within Connecticut. Columns in this series in 2022 include:

Columns in this series from 2021 include:

• Southwest Cemetery
• The Polish Plate
• The First Decorated Christmas Tree
• Bolton Notch Trail Bridge
• Civil War Drum
• Civil War Powder Keg
• Mile 4, Manchester Road Race
• The West Hartford Armory
• The Capitol's Nooks and Crannies
• Wickham Park Aviary
• 55 West Main, New Britain
• Fox Hopyard Golf Course
• The Dodd Center For Human Rights at UConn
• Manchester Ropes Challenge Course
• 4-H Education Center at Auerfarm
• Fuego Picante Food Truck
• The Amistad
• 9/11 memorials
• Club Champion Golf Fitters
• New England Civil War Museum and Research Center
• Avery's Soda
• Salt 2.0 Restaurant
• The Grave of Jonathan, The Original Husky
• Golden Gavel Auction House
• Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut
• The Cogswell Temperance Fountain
• The Old State House
• BouNom Bakery
• Union Pond Park/Jay Howroyd Fitness Trail
• The Submarine Force Museum/USS Nautilus
• The UConn Dairy Bar
• Grove Hill Cemetery, Vernon
• Backwoods Smokin' BBQ
• The Ranch House
• Connecticut State Police Museum
• Berlin Historic District
• Connecticut Parachutists Skydiving Club
• Tail Winds Ice Cream Shop
• The MLK Mural
• The Hilltop Restaurant and Bar
• Fork & Fire
• Lena's Italian Kitchen
• The Benedict Arnold Trail
• Swank Pearce
• Vernon Depot Historic Park
• Farr's Sporting Goods
• Robs Drivin Diner