West Hartford History: What Is Located Where This Farm Once Stood?

If you think you know the answer or have a special memory related to the photo, respond in the "Leave a comment" box below this article. We'll run the answer next Monday, along with a new historical photo. The image has been provided by the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society. For more information on the museum's collection and programs, visit www.noahwebsterhouse.org.

Last week's question was "What Is Happening in This Image?" and Rick Liftig, who guessed that the image was a school bus from 1890, wanted to know where the folding stop sign was!

Dave Gabriele agreed with Liftig about the horse-drawn wagon being a school bus, and added, "I think the building was located at the present corner of Raymond and Memorial... Was this West Hartford High School or the first Hall High if it's the same building in its later years it was known as the Rutherford Building ..and it was the Town Hall Annex when Town Hall was still in the building now occupied by Flemings." Rick also thought the building was called the Rutherford.

"Boy, those rich West Hartford kids actually had a school bus in 1890! The rest of the world had to walk seven miles in snow!" Liftig added.

Another reader, identified as "robars76," thought the image was of Whitman School.

Rick is slightly off on the dating of the photo, and we will have to check about the name of the building, but the official answer from the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society is: "This image taken in approximately 1907 shows two early school buses arriving at the Center School. The school opened in 1895 and was both the high school and elementary school until 1910 when it became just a high school. The building was eventually taken down in the 1970s."