Visit the Historic Heublein Tower in Simsbury, CT

 

    For anyone visiting central Connecticut and the beautiful Farmington Valley, one will see in the skyline looking towards Hartford one of the most striking and unique features: Heublein Tower, sitting atop a small mountain ridge that overlooks the state capital. The 50-meter tower is named after Gilbert Heublein, who emigrated as a young boy from Germany in the 1850s. Once he reached adulthood, Heublein quickly became wealthy by playing a leading role in his father’s growing company, which notably introduced the famous A-1 Steak Sauce to the United States. Additional wealth came to the Heublein family from liquor, which remained in high demand until the Prohibition Era.[1]

    As a young man in 1876, Heublein went for a walk along Talcott Mountain ridge with his fiancé, and both were captivated by the views offered at the summit of the mountain. It was at that moment that Heublein promised his fiancé he would build a “castle” there for her. The rest as they say, is history. Heublein would go on to buy the necessary land, and after decades of work and planning, the first main structure of the tower was complete in 1914, with the surrounding buildings and all interior rooms completed in 1929. The jewel of the tower was the top floor—known as the ‘Observation Deck’—which the Heublein’s used to host glamorous parties. Heublein died in 1937 at the age of eighty-eight, and for many years after that the tower remained unoccupied. Eventually Heublein’s grandson chose to sell the tower to the Hartford Times, a prominent Connecticut newspaper, in 1943.[2]

    Once owned by the Hartford Times, the tower became a prime location for social events catering to the wealthy and the elite. Arguably the most significant event in the tower’s history occurred in the early 1950s, when General Dwight D. Eisenhower—hero of World War II—was hosted at a Republican Party gathering led by Prescott Bush (father of George H.W. Bush and grandfather of George W. Bush). As the 1952 Presidential Election approached, Eisenhower was highly coveted by both Democrats and Republicans to be their official party nominee. Persuaded by Bush and the other Connecticut Republicans gathered at the tower, Eisenhower accepted.[3]

    In subsequent years, the tower was used less and less for social gatherings, and eventually the declining Hartford Times sold the tower to a group of real estate developers, who intended to building luxury homes along the ridge overlooking the capital. Eventually the State of Connecticut, through its Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), stepped in to buy the tower and the surrounding land in 1966 in order to create Talcott Mountain State Park. After years of restoration and renovation, Heublein Tower and the park were finally opened to the public in 1974, and in 1983 they were added to the National Register for Historic Places.[4]

    Today, visitors who make the short hike to the tower can view the tower as it existed when the Hueblein’s lived there. Many of the rooms in the tower—adorned with period-era furniture and decorations—now serve as a small museum for visitors. In addition to taking in the breathtaking views of the gorgeous Farmington Valley from the top of the tower, residents and tourists to the region can learn more about the full history of the tower, the Heublein family, and life in Connecticut during the early 20^th century.[5]

[1] “Heublein Tower History,” Friends of Heublein Tower, accessed August 3, 2022, https://friendsofheubleintower.org/about-the-heublein-tower/heublein-tower-history/; Andrew Lehmann, “Heublein Tower,” Atlas Obscura, May 23, 2015, https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/heublein-tower.

[2] Bill Ryan, “Tower of Romance, Tower of History,” New York Times, January 31, 1999, https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/31/nyregion/tower-of-romance-tower-of-history.html; Friends of Heublein Tower, “Heublein Tower History.”

[3] Ryan, “Tower of Romance;” Friends of Heublein Tower, “Heublein Tower History.”

[4] Ryan, “Tower of Romance;” Friends of Heublein Tower, “Heublein Tower History.”

[5] Lehmann, “Heublein Tower.”