The Launch of Something New
A Newsletter for Lovers of Old Hartford History!
You May Already Know Me
Hi! My name is Dan Sterner and you may know me from my YouTube channel (History with Dan Sterner), my books (A Guide to Historic Hartford, Connecticut and Vanished Downtown Hartford), or my website (Historic Buildings of Connecticut).
Most of My Content Over the Years has Focused on Hartford
I’ve been sharing stories about Hartford, Connecticut for a while now. I started (17 years ago!) by writing posts about many of the great buildings of Hartford (and other places in Connecticut!) on my website, Historic Buildings of Connecticut. A little over a decade ago I put some of my research into print when I wrote two books about historic Hartford. Then I continued with a series of public presentations at libraries, museums, senior centers and more. These lectures focused on the ways various historic blocks and notable locations in the city have changed over time. A few years ago, to reach an even wider audience, I started a YouTube channel History with Dan Sterner. Most of the content there has been based on the theme of “Lost Buildings of Hartford.”
Why Am I Starting This Newsletter?
YouTube videos are a great medium to tell stories about Hartford buildings and history, but I wonder if some might prefer to be able to read those stories as well. Videos also take a lot of work to produce and record, which can make it difficult to keep to a reliable schedule of regular uploads of new content. In this newsletter I plan to share content more frequently. In addition, there's often so much interesting information that comes up in my research that not all of it can make into each video. On Substack I can share a wider variety of stories and they can be presented in different ways—and not always tied to buildings or specific locations!
What Can You Expect to Find Here?
My plan is to post interesting stories about Hartford on a weekly basis. Most of the content here will be free, but for those who want more there will also be a paid option that will give you access to even more fascinating articles. Please consider a paid subscription if you would like to financially support my ongoing efforts. If you aren’t interested in a paid option at this time, that’s OK! — I am grateful to all my subscribers and there will be a lot of great things here that will always be free. I will also be posting links here to my latest videos, so by subscribing you will also know when I’m releasing something new on YouTube (I also have a paid membership option for my YouTube channel).
I Also Want to Hear From You!
Please feel free to share your thoughts about my writing and make suggestions for things you want to learn about. I often get requests to make videos about different topics and while I can’t cover everything, I appreciate your ideas! Let’s build a community here of people who love to learn about and share stories of Historic Hartford!
And If You Want More…
On my websites I write about many other places in Connecticut and Massachusetts and I’m interested in many other historical subjects as well. That’s why I’m also creating a second Substack publication called: “That’s Historical!” Please check it out and subscribe there as well!