This is where Asylum Avenue begins: to the east and down the hill, it’s Asylum Street. Originally it was Asylum Street along its entire length, and the avenue section developed along with residences on Asylum Hill, starting about the 1850s. The street, like the neighborhood, takes its name from the original name for the American School for the Deaf, but I won’t repeat that name because the school objects to it. Today, the street still serves its original purpose, taking you from downtown (almost) all the way out to the school at its current location on North Main Street, West Hartford.