Henry Barnard House

Location118 Main Street, Hartford, Connecticut

Coordinates41°45′23.65″N 72°40′32.36″W / 41.7565694°N 72.6756556°W

Arealess than one acre

Built1807

Significant dates

Henry Barnard House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
U.S. Historic district – Contributing property


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Location	118 Main Street, Hartford, Connecticut
Coordinates	41°45′23.65″N 72°40′32.36″W / 41.7565694°N 72.6756556°W / 41.7565694; -72.6756556
Area	less than one acre
Built	1807
Part of	South Green Historic District (ID02001453)
NRHP reference No.	66000803
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966^[1]
Designated NHL	December 21, 1965^[2]
Designated CP	November 17, 1977

The Henry Barnard House is a historic house and National Historic Landmark at 118 Main Street in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. It was the lifelong home of educator Henry Barnard (1811–1900), an education reformer who was instrumental (along with Horace Mann) in the development of the American public school system. Barnard established the statewide education systems of both Connecticut and Rhode Island, which served as models for the development of such infrastructure in other states. The house is now owned by a religious charity, which operates a homeless shelter on the premises.

The Barnard House is a three-story brick structure, five bays wide and three deep, with a side gable roof. The entrance is centered on the front facade, and is sheltered by a portico supported by paired fluted Ionic columns. The entrance is flanked by sidelight windows and pilasters, and topped by a semi-circular four leaf transom window and an entablature. The only other significant exterior styling is the modillioned cornice below the roof line. The interior of the house has been somewhat altered due to its later institutional use, but has retained a basic center hall plan with parlors on either side. The most significant alteration has been the addition of two large sections to the back of the house, which nearly triple its size. These are used to provide shelter space for the local homeless population.^[3]^[4]

The house was built in 1807, and it was four years later that Henry Barnard was born here. At the time it was located in a fashionable neighborhood of the city, and originally included more land than it presently does. The house remained in the Barnard family until his death in 1900, when it was acquired by the Sisters of Mercy, who operate services for the homeless.^[3] It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.^[2]

Henry Barnard was educated at Yale College, trained as a lawyer, and entered politics, winning election to the Connecticut state legislature in 1837. Barnard had studied education systems in Europe during travels there, and promoted legislation for statewide supervision of public education. He was thereafter appointed the state's first secretary of education. Forced out of that post by political opponents, he was given a similar post in neighboring Rhode Island, where he promoted legislation creating the nation's first normal school (teacher's college), passed in 1845. He then returned to Connecticut, where he became superintendent of schools, and oversaw establishment of its normal school. He later served in education-related posts in Wisconsin, Maryland, and was the first United States Commissioner of Education, appointed in 1867. He died in this house in 1900.^[3]

v t e National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut
NHL Sites	A. Everett Austin House Austin F. Williams Carriagehouse and House Barnum Museum Bush–Holley House Buttolph–Williams House Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer House Charles H. Norton House Charles W. Morgan Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Connecticut Hall Connecticut State Capitol Edward W. Morley House Emma C. Berry First Church of Christ, Congregational Fish Church Florence Griswold Museum Foreign Mission School Frederic Remington House Harriet Beecher Stowe House Henry Barnard House Henry Whitfield House Hill–Stead Museum Ida Tarbell House James Dwight Dana House James Merrill House John Rogers Studio John Trumbull Birthplace Jonathan Sturges House Joseph Webb House Kimberly Mansion L. A. Dunton Lafayette B. Mendel House Litchfield Law School Lockwood–Mathews Mansion Mark Twain House Marsh Hall Monte Cristo Cottage Noah Webster House Old New-Gate Prison Old State House Oliver Ellsworth Homestead Oliver Wolcott House Portland Brownstone Quarries Prudence Crandall Museum Richard Alsop IV House Roseland Cottage Russell Henry Chittenden House Sabino Samuel Huntington Birthplace Samuel Wadsworth Russell House Silas Deane House Stanley-Whitman House Stephen Tyng Mather Home USS Nautilus William Williams House Yale Bowl
NHL Districts	Cheney Brothers Historic District Coltsville Historic District Connecticut Audubon Society Birdcraft Museum and Sanctuary Fort Shantok Glass House Grove Street Cemetery Litchfield Historic District Mashantucket Pequot Reservation Archeological District New Haven Green
Former	First Telephone Exchange

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Hartford, Connecticut
Historic districts	Allen Place–Lincoln Street Ann Street Asylum Avenue Bedford-Garden Streets Buckingham Square Capen-Clark Cedar Hill Cemetery Charter Oak Place Clay Hill Collins and Townley Streets Colt Armory Congress Street Department Store Downtown North Elm Street Fairfield Avenue Frog Hollow Goodwin Hotel Grandview Terrace Boulevard Hartford Golf Club High Street Imlay and Laurel Streets Jefferson-Seymour Laurel and Marshall Streets Lewis Street Block Little Hollywood Main Street No. 2 Nook Farm Oxford-Whitney Streets Parkside Parkville Pratt Street Prospect Avenue Sigourney Square Sisson-South Whitney South Green Trinity College Long Walk Upper Albany Watkinson School West Boulevard West End North West End South
Historic properties	777 Main Street Aetna Diner Ambassador Apartments Amos Bull House Apartment at 49–51 Spring Street Arthur G. Pomeroy House B.P.O. Elks Lodge Batterson Block Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Synagogue Bloomfield Avenue Meeting House Boce W. Barlow Jr. House Building at 136–138 Collins Street Building at 142 Collins Street Building at 83–85 Sigourney Street Bulkeley Bridge Bushnell Park Butler-McCook Homestead Calvin Day House Capewell Horse Nail Company Charter Oak Bank Building Cheney Building Chevry Lomday Mishnayes Synagogue Christ Church Cathedral Church of the Good Shepherd and Parish House Connecticut State Library Day House Day-Taylor House Dillon Building Dr. Frank T. Simpson House Elizabeth Park Engine Company 1 Fire Station Engine Company 15 Fire Station Engine Company 16 Fire Station Engine Company 2 Fire Station Engine Company 6 Fire Station Engine Company 9 Fire Station First Church of Christ and the Ancient Burying Ground First National Bank Building Footguard Hall Fourth Congregational Church Fuller Brush Company Factory Complex Hartford Club Hartford Electric Light Company Maple Avenue Sub-Station Hartford International University for Religion and Peace Hartford Special Machinery Company Complex Hartford Union Station Hotel America House at 140 and 144 Retreat Avenue House at 36 Forest Street Hyde-St. John House Isham-Terry House James B. Colt House James Pratt Funeral Service John and Isabella Hooker House Judd and Root Building Keney Tower Lucius Barbour House Lyman House M. Swift and Sons Company Mansuy and Smith Automobile Showroom Building Marietta Canty House Mather Homestead Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Municipal Building Myers and Gross Building Neiditz Building North-West School Northam Memorial Chapel and Gallup Memorial Gateway Old North Cemetery Perkins–Clark House Phoenix Life Insurance Company Building Royal Typewriter Company Building Saint Anthony Hall Second Church of Christ Southern New England Telephone Company Building Spencer House Spring Grove Cemetery St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church Stackpole, Moore, and Tryon Building State Arsenal and Armory Stone Bridge Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church Temple Beth Israel The Village Underwood Computing Machine Company Factory Union Baptist Church Vine Street Apartment Buildings Wadsworth Atheneum Washington Street School Webster Memorial Building Wethersfield Avenue Car Barn Widows' Home Wilfred X. Johnson House William L. Linke House William R. Cotter Federal Building Windsor Avenue Congregational Church
National Historic Landmark Districts	Coltsville
National Historic Landmarks	A. Everett Austin House Connecticut State Capitol Harriet Beecher Stowe House Henry Barnard House Mark Twain House Old State House
Former	Capitol Building
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Hartford, Connecticut, and List of National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut

Henry Barnard House

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References

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