Dan Antion

Happy Thanksgiving—Thursday Doors

Entrance to Hartford’s Ancient Burial Ground. The burial ground is located directly behind First Church.

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the US. We will be celebrating quietly, in our own house, but it is still a day to give thanks. I am thankful that our family is safe and healthy. We have come this far through this hot mess of a year without incident, and we are doing our best to stay well.

As you may know by now, Thursday Doors is moving to this blog starting next Thursday. I will have more to say about that next week. For today, I want to offer a huge Thank You to Norm Frampton for introducing me to Thursday Doors and giving me the opportunity to share doors, architecture and history through a unique weekly challenge that literally exposes us all to beauty from around the world.

Whether you have doors to share today or not, I urge you to visit Norm’s page to see his doors.

Today’s shorter-than-usual gallery is from Hartford’s Center Congregational Church and Ancient Burial Grounds. Thank you so much for visiting No Facilities. I hope you enjoy the photos. If you’re in the US, Happy Thanksgiving – stay safe and well.

Note: I did not take a photo of the front of the church because many people were standing and sitting on the stairs.

Entrance to Hartford’s Ancient Burial Ground. The burial ground is located directly behind First Church.
Plaque on the side of the entrance to the Ancient Burial Grounds.
The back of First Church.
A plaque honoring Thomas Hooker. Hooker is thought to be buried in the Ancient Burial Grounds, but the location of his grave is unknown.
Not a door, in the traditional sense, but I did see a grey squirrel ducking in behind that tilted stone.
Doctor Thomas Langrell “Drowned in the glory of his years And left his mate to drown herself in tears.”
This is the location of the first meeting house in Hartford, established by Rev. Thomas Hooker in 1636.
One of the entrance doors to First Church.
First Church Hartford. This is actually the fourth building to serve as the Meeting House. This church was built in 1807.
First Church Hartford.
Rev. Samuel Stone First Church Teacher and 2nd Pastor Co-Founded Hartford with Thomas Hooker 1602-1663

82 comments

  7. I loved this journey and the sentiments associated with the church and cemetery. Thank you, Dan. I hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving. ✨✨

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  8. Happy Thanksgiving Dan. Enjoy your dinner, the love of family….yes, the hairy ones too, and continued good health to all. As bad as 2020 has been, we all have a great deal to be thankful for.

    I’m with Rivergirl……cemeteries are sad but at the same time full of history and quite fascinating.
    The cemetery you feature today is no exception. Great gallery.
    Ginger

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    • Happy Thanksgiving Ginger. I plan to visit the Ancient Burial Ground in the spring. Along with the church, it’s the start of Hartford. The church has been rebuilt four times, the burial ground started in the mid-1630s. I’m glad it’s still in the same location.

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  9. Bravo, Dan! I so love cemeteries nd the more ancient, the better. I hope you enjoy your quiet holiday. Have some bird for me please. 🙂Thanks for the beautiful photos and hiatory.

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  10. Dan, I’m glad you and your family are staying safe.
    That tower on the church is breathtaking, especially the way you caught it with the golden light.
    The photo with the two crypts is particularly evocative. I might ask you if I can use that for Dead of Winter. (I’ll need to do several covers.)
    Congrats on accepting the Doors torch from Norm.
    Happy Thanksgiving. Hugs on turkey wings!

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  11. Excellent post as usual my friend. I’ve said it often before because I truly believe it to be true; cemeteries are an overlooked resource for history buffs. You can learn so much about a place by by exploring what there is to find in its cemeteries.
    Thanks for agreeing to continue the Thursday Doors tradition Dan, and have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
    We’ll keep in touch – cheers!

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  14. A very happy Thanksgiving, Dan! I’m certainly grateful for your blog. Hope you have a nice and relaxing day. Also glad to hear you’re inheriting the Doors mantle! I can’t imagine a more worthy host. You’ve contributed so much to it over the last few years. Looking forward to what you have planned …

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  16. Hi Dan – have a lovely day … must be most of it left at tea-time in England. All the best – and those doors and gates are welcoming … enjoy yourselves – stay safe – Hilary

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  20. Such a lovely building. The old graveyard really stands out against the backdrop of modern architecture. Thank you, Dan, for taking the Thursday Doors torch from Norm. It’s hard to believe it’s been going strong for six years, the time has just flown by.

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  22. Thanks for the stroll in the cemetery! I love the structures, history, and remembrances of people long gone. Thank you also for taking over Thursday Doors for Norm. I can understand why he may need a break and I’m sure having you carry on for him made his decision easier. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

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    • Thanks Janis. I hope to visit the burial ground again, perhaps in the spring for a proper tour. It seems to be the oldest surviving thing in the City of Hartford. The church is the fourth building on the site. I’m looking forward to gathering Thursday Doors here.

      Happy Thanksgiving!

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  25. Hi Dan

    Had no idea norm was passing the “Thursday doors” torch to you – and nice of you to keep it going

    And your opening photo of the cemetery – with the leaves 🍁 made it a great late November choice and the gallery had some nice Dan images too ;)

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  27. So glad you posted these pictures. Have never been there, but your pictures make me want to take a road trip north.
    Thanks so much for taking on Thursday Doors. I don’t participate often, but I certainly enjoyed Norm’s posts and many of the ones who linked their posts to his. Wishing you all the best!

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  28. I loved this post. It felt so right for Thanksgiving; a remembrance of us, the past, and feeling appreciative for what we have. That’s how it made me feel. The old iron gates and the cemetery are lovely. The beautiful carvings on the headstone of the doctor who drowned are as clear as those done on slate, but it looks like brownstone.

    Congratulations on taking over Norm’s Thursday Door posts. You are the perfect choice. I am sad to see Norm leave, yet I know he left Thursday Doors in very good hands.

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  29. A beautiful gateway. And quite modest looking for such a building.
    Hard to judge by the statue, but the Reverend looks like a short-ish guy. People were not so tall back then, isn’t it.

    These Dutch and their boats! Cape Town, over here, was founded by the Dutch East India Company in 1652 as a refreshment outpost. :)

    A lovely post. :)

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    • I knew that the Dutch had settled, or had established a camp in Hartford, but the two towns that argue about who’s the first town were both English settlements. Of course, the native Americans were already here.

      I’m glad you enjoyed the post.

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  31. Hi Dan, I was really sorry to hear Norm was ending Thursday Doors, but I totally understand needing a change. So glad you’re picking it up – it’s always been one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing your doors. It’s good to travel vicariously since we can’t do it in real-time.

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