Q: The stone lions that flank the Arch Street entrance to Hartford City Hall are not original to that building. Where were they first located?

A: Atop the original Phoenix Bank on Main Street, erected opposite the Old State in 1817. Wilson H. Faude, in his "Images of America: Lost Hartford," has an excellent photograph of the bank, showing one lion atop each wing of the building. Faude notes that the Phoenix was Hartford's first marble building, and that its raised entrance served as a speaker's platform for many great orators, including Stephen Douglas.

Q: The man regarded by many as England's greatest novelist celebrated his 30th birthday in Hartford in 1842. Who was he?

A: Charles Dickens, who at the time was touring the United States. He stayed at the City Hotel, which stood on Main Street, at the corner of Gold Street and opposite the Wadsworth Atheneum. Dickens describes the Hartford stop in his letters, excerpted here.

Built in 1819, the City had many important guests. The Marquis de Lafeyette, who led French troops in the Revolutionary War, stayed there during a return tour of the U.S. in 1824. Jefferson Davis, best known to history as president of the Confederacy, visited in 1853; at that point - about eight years before the Civil War - he was U.S. secretary of war. The City was torn down in 1913. (Source: "Yesterday's Connecticut," by Malcolm L. Johnson.)

Q: The current Connecticut State Armory, at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Broad Street, was constructed in 1909. Where did the previous Armory stand?

A: At the corner of Elm and Hudson streets. It was replaced in the 1920s by the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company Building, which is now home for the state attorney general and state comptroller. (Sources: "Images of America: Lost Hartford," compiled by Wilson H. Faude, and "Structures and Styles: Guided Tours of Hartford Architecture," by Gregory E. Andrews and David F. Ransom.)

Q: Yes, once there was a time before Starbucks. But that doesn't mean early residents of the city didn't have a place to hang out and get a caffeine fix. In the 1700s, one of the more popular establishments was Ripley's Coffee House. Where was it located?

A: Ripley's stood on State Street until 1826, when it was replaced by the United States Hotel. (Source: "Yesterday's Connecticut," by Malcolm L. Johnson.)

Q: In 1934, one of the most famous - and controversial - figures in 20th-century art delivered a lecture at the Wadsworth Atheneum. It's believed to be the first time he delivered his famous dictum: "The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not a madman." Who was this artist?

A: Salvadore Dali, who had been invited to the Wadsworth by its visionary director, A. Everett "Chick" Austin. New York Herald Tribune columnist Joseph W. Alsop Jr. realized the importance of the event and had journeyed north to cover it. But Hartford-area residents couldn't be bothered; Dali walked into the Atheneum's new Avery Theater to find two-thirds of the seats empty. (Source: "Magician of the Modern: Chick Austin and the Transformation of the Arts in America," by Eugene R. Gaddis.)

Q: In the redevelopment of Hartford's east side, the remaining section of Front Street was given a new name. What was it?

A: Columbus Boulevard.

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