⚠️ ATTENTION HARTFORD & TRANSIT COLLECTORS: This is an exceptionally rare, near-complete 22-card archive. To keep this museum-quality set intact, I will not be breaking it up to sell cards individually. This lot includes the highly coveted Card #3 (the historic May 12, 1895 final horse-car run with the steam fire engine), Card #7 (the 1914 Union Station Fire), and the rare Unnumbered Variant showing the demolished Trinity College campus before the State Capitol was built. Please see the full chronological catalog below!
📜 ABOUT THIS SETRather than mass-printed ink-dot lithographs, Witkower's produced these as high-quality, actual glossy photographic prints on postcard paper. They carefully curated rare, original 19th-century and early 20th-century photographs, drawings, and engravings from Hartford’s history to create a numbered collector's series. Each card features the official Witkower's ink stamp on the back.🔍 INCLUDED NUMBERS & HIGHLIGHTSThis lot features a remarkably tight, highly sequential run of 22 cards total (19 numbered cards, plus an unnumbered variant variant).

• The Sequence: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, plus 1 Unnumbered Variant.

The Definitive Witkower's Hartford History Card Catalog

• #1: Charter Oak with Stuart Residence – Documents the legendary, fallen symbol of Connecticut's independence alongside the historic Wyllys/Stuart estate before the tree fell in 1856.
• #2: Main Street Looking North from Corner of Asylum Street (c. 1865-1870) – A rare Civil War-era view of a dirt Main Street showing the Old North Baptist Church steeple and horse-drawn transit.
• #3: Main Street Intersection (May 12, 1895) – A high-value action shot capturing a roaring steam fire engine on the exact historic day horse-drawn trolley transit permanently ended in Hartford.
• #4: Main Street, Opposite State House (c. 1860s) – A wide look at the heart of the city's commercial district, featuring the "BOOKS" sign of Brown & Gross (the direct predecessor shop to Witkower's).
• #5: Exchange Corner (c. 1865) – Captures the financial epicenter at Main and State Streets, highlighting historic landmarks like Wm. Rogers & Son Silver and Elihu Geer's famous printing shop.
• #6: Main Street, Opposite State House (Alternative View) – A closer look at mid-19th-century pedestrians and traffic navigating the bustling dirt road adjacent to the State House iron fence.
• #7: Union Station Fire (Feb 21, 1914, 2:21 PM) – A premier disaster card showing the catastrophic fire that destroyed the iconic red-brick clock towers of the Asylum Street station.
• #8: East from State House – A scenic view looking toward the Connecticut River, showing the early layout of Hartford's downtown commercial arteries branching away from the capitol hub.
• #9: Site of Railroad Station in Hartford (c. 1870) – Documents the early transportation infrastructure of the city right around the time the railroad was radically expanding through downtown.
• #11: Bushnell Park at the Time of Purchase (c. 1854) – A foundational piece showing the raw land just as Hartford voters approved creating the first municipal park in the United States funded by public funds.
• #12: View on Asylum Street from High Street – Captures the vital commercial corridor connecting the train tracks to the central business blocks, right on the street where Witkower's bookstore operated.
• #13: Historic Old Mansion of Joseph Talcott – Features one of Hartford's most famous vanished colonial landmarks, home of the early Connecticut Governor's family.
• #14: State Street From Main – A crisp look at the major intersection defining early Hartford commerce, looking east down the bustling hill.
• #15: Washington Street – Celebrated as one of Hartford's grandest, tree-lined residential avenues of the 19th century, featuring stunning elite mansions.
• #16: View of Hartford from Drawing Made About 1825 – A reproduction of a rare, early waterfront sketch showing masted sailing ships navigating the Connecticut River before the industrial boom.
• #17: Burning of the Mitchell Building (1839) – Reproduces a rare, early 19th-century engraving capturing a catastrophic downtown fire and the city's primitive, early fire brigade response.
• #19: Main Street Looking South from City Hall – A view down the central spine of the city, capturing the rapid architectural modernization of Hartford's commercial core.
• #20: Looking Northeast from Roof of Old State House – A unique, high-angle panoramic view capturing the rooftops, signage, and evolving skyline of downtown Hartford.
• #21: George O. Sawyer Co., 420 Main Street (Jan 9th, 1887) – A highly specific local business card capturing a late-19th-century storefront freeze-frame in the dead of winter.
• #25: Rare Old Photograph of Hartford in Earliest Horse Car Days – A priceless transit piece capturing the absolute infancy of public streetcar transportation in the city.
• #26: Memorial Arch and State Capital – Captures Hartford’s twin defining monuments: the famous Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch standing sentinel over Bushnell Park with the golden Capitol dome rising in the back.
• [Unnumbered Variant]: Early View of Bushnell Park from Trinity College – A cornerstone "lost architecture" view showing the original college campus hill before the buildings were entirely demolished in the 1870s to make way for the new State Capitol building.

Any questions, please let me know. I'm happy to take additional pictures if needed
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Historic Witkower's Hartford CT Postcard Lot 22pc Real Photo 1895 Transit 1914 F

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