Outdoor Enthusiast: Room with a View

The amazing views from the top of Heublein Tower made our 1.25 mile treck up Talcott Mountain worth the effort. Department of Environmental Protection's Amanda Davis, took the Media Lab Staff up the yellow trail and explained the sights and sounds and history of the area. The trail began with a steep, quarter-mile climb, but once we got past that section of the trail, the path leveled out. Amanda brought us to a section of the trail that overlooked Avon and Farmington. Even though we were there on a foggy day, the views were breathtaking. Once we got to Heublein Tower, Amanda took us on a tour of the grounds. She told us that the tower, which stands today, was the fourth tower to be built in that spot. Heublein Tower is named after Gilbert Heublein, a Hartford hotelier and restaurant owner who began building it in 1911. Heublein intended to use the tower as a summer getaway for his family and used to entertain his guests at the top of the tower. The tower was completed in 1914 and remained in the Heublein family's care until Gilbert Heubline's death in 1937. The tower was sold in 1943 to the Hartford Times in order to repay Heublein's debts. The Times intended to use the tower as an antenna but never installed the technology. Instead, the tower was used as an executive playground. The Times sold the tower in 1962. The tower fell into disrepair. According to Amanda, the tower was looted and vandalized. The tower had one of the states' first elevators, but vandals destroyed the elevator during the 1970s. It wasn't until 1974 that the area was incorporated into a state park. Since then, the tower has been restored. When we got to the top of the tower, we could see Simsbury, Sleeping Giant Mountain, Hartford, Bloomfield, and Wethersfield.

-Julia Kwon