Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is on the Connecticut River and only 24 miles from Springfield, Massachusetts. The city of Hartford had 121,054 people as of 2020. This is the third most people in the state behind Bridgeport and New Haven. It is an important center of Insurance. Airline service is provided from Bradley International Airport.

Hartford has an American Hockey League team called the Hartford Wolf Pack, a rugby team called the Hartford Wanderers and a United Football League team called the Hartford Colonials. From 1979 to 1997 Hartford had a National Hockey League team called the Hartford Whalers.

History

Colonial Hartford
The first Europeans known to have explored the area were the Dutch. They were led by Adriaen Block. They sailed up the Connecticut River in 1614. Dutch fur traders from New Amsterdam came back in 1623. They wanted to build a trading post and fortify the area for the Dutch West India Company. The first place was on the south bank of the Park River. This would have been in the present-day Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhood. This fort was called Fort Hoop or the "House of Hope." In 1633, Jacob Van Curler bought the land around Fort Hoop from the Pequot chief. He paid only a small price. A few families and a few dozen soldiers lived there at that time. Everyone left the fort by 1654. The area is known today as Dutch Point; the name of the Dutch fort "House of Hope" is reflected in the name of Huyshope Avenue.

The English started to come in 1636. They settled upstream from Fort Hoop near the present-day Downtown and Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhoods.

19th century

Throughout the 19th century, Hartford's number of people, economic productivity, cultural influence, and political power continued to grow. The Industrial Revolution in Hartford in the mid-1800s made it one of the wealthiest per capita in United States.

On December 15, 1814, people from the five New England states (Maine was still part of Massachusetts at that time) came together at the Hartford Convention. Unhappy about the War of 1812, they discussed New England possibly breaking away from the United States.

During the early 19th century, the Hartford area was an important place for abolitionist activity. The most famous abolitionist family was the Beechers. The Reverend Lyman Beecher was an important Congregational minister known for his anti-slavery sermons. His daughter, Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin; her brother Henry Ward Beecher was a well-known clergyman who strongly hated slavery. He also supported the temperance movement and women's suffrage. The Stowes' sister Isabella Beecher Hooker was a leading member of the women's rights movement.

20th century

On the week of April 12, 1909, the Connecticut River reached a record high flood stage of 24.5 feet (7.47 meters) above the low water mark. This flooded Hartford. It did a lot of damage.

On July 6, 1944, one of the worst fire disasters in the history of the United States happened in Hartford. It happened at a performance of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. It became known as the Hartford Circus Fire.

After World War II, many people from Puerto Rico moved to Hartford.

Riverfront Plaza was opened in 1999. This connected the riverfront and the downtown area for the first time since the 1960s.

21st century
In July 2017, Hartford thought about filing Chapter 9 bankruptcy. However, a state bailout later that year stopped the city from filing the form.

Geography

The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of . Of that,  is land and  (3.67%) is water.

Climate
Hartford is in the humid continental climate zone (Köppen Dfa). This means it has hot, humid summers and cold winters.

People

The census of 2010 says that there were 124,775 people, 44,986 households, and 27,171 families living in the Hartford.

The people were 29.8% white, 38.7% African American or black, 0.6% Native American, 2.8% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 23.9% from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races. 43.4% of the people were Hispanic or Latino, mostly from Puerto Rico. This amount is up from 32% in 1990. Whites not of Latino background made up 15.8% of the people in 2010, down from 63.9% in 1970.

There were 44,986 households. Of that, 34.4% of them had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.2% were married couples living together, 29.6% had a woman with no husband, and 39.6% were not families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals. 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58. The average family size was 3.33.

30.1% of the people younger than 18, 12.6% were 18 to 24 years old, 29.8% were 25 to 44 years old, 18.0% were 45 to 64 years old, and 9.5% were 65 years old or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 women, there were 91.4 men. For every 100 women aged 18 and over, there were 86.0 men.

The median income for a household in Hartford was $20,820. The median income for a family was $22,051. Men had a median income of $28,444. Women had a median income of $26,131. The per capita income for the city was $13,428.

Politics and Government
Hartford has a strong mayor-council government. In 2003, Hartford voted to have a mayor-council system. They had a council-manager form for more than 50 years. Mayor Eddie Perez was first elected in 2001. He was re-elected with 76% of the vote in 2003. He was the first strong mayor elected under the new government system. He is credited with lowering crime, reforming the school system, and helping the economy in the city. However, his reputation was hurt by accusations of corruption. The current mayor is Luke Bronin.

Connecticut cities provide almost all local services such as fire and rescue, education, and snow removal. This is because county government no longer exists in Connecticut since 1960.

In 2008, Hartford passed a law that gives services to all residents no matter what their immigration was. That law also stops police from arresting people only because of their immigration status. It also stops police from asking about a person's immigration status. In 2016, Hartford said it was a "Sanctuary city", although the term itself does not have an legal meaning.

Emergency services
The Hartford Fire Department provides all fire protection in Hartford. They have 12 fire stations in the Hartford. It is the fifth-biggest fire department in Connecticut. They also have a fire apparatus fleet.

The Hartford Police Department was created in 1860. Although, law enforcement in Hartford started in 1636. It is at 253 High Street.It includes divisions such as animal control, bomb squad, and detective bureau.

Hartford uses private companies to provide ambulances, including Aetna Ambulance.

Economy

Hartford is an important place for medical care, research, and education. In Hartford itself, the city has Hartford Hospital, The Institute of Living, Connecticut Children's Medical Center, and Saint Francis Hospital & Medical Center (which merged in 1990 with Mount Sinai Hospital).

In March 2018, Infosys said they would open a new technology innovation hub in Hartford. This would create up to 1,000 jobs by 2022. The Hartford technology innovation hub will focus on three key things- insurance, healthcare and manufacturing.

Local unemployment is high in Hartford compared to other cities, the state, and the nation. Hartford's unemployment rate of 7.5% in the fall of 2018 was the highest of the four biggest cities in Connecticut. As a whole, Connecticut's unemployment rate remains above 5% while the National rate hovers just under 4%.

Media

The daily Hartford Courant newspaper is the United States's oldest continuously published newspaper. It was created in 1764. A weekly newspaper called the Hartford Advocate also serves Hartford and the surrounding area. Other newspapers include the Hartford Business Journal ("Greater Hartford's Business Weekly") and the weekly Hartford News.

The Hartford region also has some magazines. They include the Hartford Magazine, a monthly lifestyle magazine serving Greater Hartford; CT Cottages & Gardens; Connecticut Business, a monthly magazine serving all of Connecticut; and Home Living CT, a home and garden magazine published five times per year.

The Hartford/New Haven television market is the 29th biggest media market in the U.S.

Education

Colleges and universities
Hartford has many famous institutions such as Trinity College.

Primary and secondary education
Hartford Public Schools runs the public school system. Hartford Public High School, the nation's second-oldest high school, is in the Asylum Hill neighborhood of Hartford.

The Connecticut Department of Education says that Hartford's high school graduation rate reached 71 percent in 2013.

Transportation

Highways
I-84 and I-91 intersect in downtown Hartford.

Rail

Amtrak provides service from Hartford to Vermont via Springfield and southward to New Haven. The station also has many bus companies.

Airports
Bradley International Airport (BDL) is in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. It has more than 150 flights every day. Those flights go to over 30 different places on 9 airlines. Connecticut Transit provides bus service between Bradley International Airport and downtown Hartford. Other airports serving the Hartford area include:
 Hartford-Brainard Airport (HFD), located in Hartford off I-91 and close to Wethersfield; has charter and local flights
 Westover Metropolitan Airport (CEF), located in Chicopee, Massachusetts,  north of Hartford; hass commercial, local, charter, and military flights
 Tweed New Haven Regional Airport (HVN), located in New Haven; has American Eagle

Bus
Connecticut Transit (CTtransit) is owned by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The Hartford Division of CTtransit runs the local bus service in the city and the surrounding area. Hartford's Downtown Area Shuttle (DASH) bus route is a free downtown circulator. All city buses have bike racks.

Bicycle
There are bicycle lanes on many roads including Capitol Avenue, Zion Street, Scarborough Lane, Whitney, and South Whitney.

Culture
The first American cookbook was American Cookery, The Art of Dressing Viands, Fish, Poultry, and Vegetables by Amelia Simons, was published in Hartford by Hudson & Goodwin in 1796. It was also the first cookbook to have recipes for squash and cornmeal. It also had the first published recipe for pumpkin pie. It influenced a generation of American baking with a recipe for leavening bread with pearl ash. The full text of the book is available online.

Hartford got praise from Food and Wine as "a foodie destination".

Hartford has many seasonal farmers' markets. The Hartford Regional Market is the biggest market between New York City and Boston.

Sports

The Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League plays ice hockey at the XL Center in downtown Hartford.

As of 2019, Hartford has a USL team. They play in the 9,600 seat Dillon Stadium.

Famous People
Hartford has had historically important people, such as dictionary author Noah Webster (1758–1843), inventor Sam Colt (1814–62), and American financier and industrialist J.P. Morgan (1837–1913).

Some of America's most famous authors lived in Hartford, including Mark Twain (1835–1910). He moved to Hartford in 1874. Twain's next-door neighbor at Nook Farm was Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–96). Poet Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) was an insurance executive in Hartford. World War II correspondent Lyn Crost (1915–97) lived in Hartford.

Sister cities
Hartford has many sister cities. They include:

  Afula, Israel
  Bydgoszcz, Poland
  Caguas, Puerto Rico
  Couva, Trinidad and Tobago
  Dongguan, Guangdong, China
  Floridia, Sicily, Italy
  Freetown, Sierra Leone
  Hertford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
  João Pessoa, Brazil
  Mangualde, Portugal
  Morant Bay, Jamaica
  New Ross, Ireland
  Ocotal, Nicaragua
  Thessaloniki, Greece

References

Other websites

 
 Chamber of Commerce
 

 Hartford -Wikivoyage

 
State capitals in the United States
1630s establishments in Connecticut
1637 establishments
County seats in Connecticut