A Hartford Drug House, Mattress, and Pay Phone #28

A week ago Hilda Munoz of the Hartford Courant brought us a story about the arrest of a Hartford man, Henry Hernandez, for allegedly operating a drug factory out of 184 1/2 Ward Street. Found along with 800 packets of Heroin in the drug factory were some cocaine, raw heroin, a stolen handgun and a submachine gun. Sounds like some good clean fun. We've been known to like to check these types of scenes out, and what we found was quite an interesting representation of our beloved city in the span of a few hundred feet.

Hakaan and Craig The Porn Star Discuss Traffic In Hartford

As a follow up to "Intersections We Can't Navigate," Hakaan griped with WCCC's Craig The Porn Star about traffic problems in Hartford. Highlights include Hakaan trying to figure out what Craig is really using to "cover up odor" in his car, Craig sticking to his air freshener story, and both expressing their displeasure about how short the light on Sherman Street is. Full audio after the jump.

Hartford Kewl Buildings: The Flat Iron Building

If New York has it's flat iron building, why can't Hartford? Located in one of our favorite areas of town between Ann and High Street, right after Albany Ave and Main Street split, this interesting building currently sits vacant and boarded up. The building doesn't seem to have any significant history, all we were able to uncover is that it was built for any Italian grocery store owner.

Hartford Kewl Find: An Even Older Map

Earlier this week we posted a 1908 Hartford map we found while avoided real responsibilities and wasting time on Ebay. This post lead reader Donald Poland to email us about an 1850 map that he had a digital image of. This 1850 map was surveyed and drawn by Marcus Smith and reproduced from the Map and Geographic Information Center at UConn. A larger image and some interesting notes on how the city has changed from Donald Poland after the jump.

Hartford Business: J.Rene Coffee Roasters

If Starbucks took coffee from gas stations and Folgers and into latte's, grande's, dark roasts, and venti's in the 1990's and 2000's, small gourmet shops like J.Rene Coffee Roasters are taking coffee to the next level in the twenty-tens (teens?) Located upstairs at 485 New Park Ave, J.Rene Coffee is a place where you can not only get the best coffee in town (and if you're lucky, a free latte) but also a coffee education if you desire.

Hartford Kewl Find: Century Old Map

One of the biggest problems with scouring tag sales is that you only have Saturday and Sunday mornings to check them out. Sometimes on Saturday and Sunday mornings our heads are pounding and the sunlight hurts our eyes from staying up too late and reading all night. That problem has been remedied by the worlds greatest tag sale; Ebay. Running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, almost anything can be found on Ebay including some great vintage Hartford items. While bored late one night we came across this gem, a 1908 map of Hartford. For those who know Hartford, the map is very recognizable and at under $10, is one of those great finds that those with a touch of "picker" in them really love. Ebay bonus: you don't have to see how gross of a place your prize is coming from! Enlarged pic after the jump.

Mark Twain Revelations

Mark Twain is probably Hartford's most famous resident ever. His house in the West End is one of Hartford's most popular tourist attractions. Recently, with the passing of the 100th Anniversary of Twain's death, his autobiography was released. Now anyone who insists that his autobiography can't be released until 100 years after his death must have many salacious revelations to make. Well we could read the book to find out, but that would take a long, long time and besides, reading is crazy boring. Let's just speculate what revelations must be in this impressive tome instead.