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.
Hartford has many sister cities. They include:
Dover, Delaware
Dover is the capital city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is the county seat of Kent County, which is in the middle of the state. Dover had 36,047 people in 2010.
William Penn founded Dover as the court town for newly established Kent County in 1683. Penn was the proprietor of the territory generally known as the "Lower Counties on the Delaware." In 1717, a special commission of the Delaware General Assembly laid out the city. The capital of the state of Delaware was moved here from Newcastle in 1777 because of its central location and relative safety from British raiders on the Delaware River. Because of an act passed in October 1779, the assembly elected to meet at any place in the state they saw fit, meeting successively in Wilmington, Lewes, Dover, Newcastle, and Lewes again, until the capital moved to Dover permanently in October 1781. The city's central square, known as The Green, was the location of many rallies, troop reviews, and other patriotic events. Today, The Green remains the heart of Dover's historic district and is the location of the Delaware Supreme Court and the Kent County Courthouse.
Dover was most famously the home of Caesar Rodney, the popular wartime leader of Delaware during the American Revolution.
Dover and Kent County were deeply divided over the issue of slavery, and the city was a "stop" on the Underground Railroad. It was also home to a large Quaker community that encouraged a sustained emancipation effort in the early nineteenth century. There were very few slaves in the area, but a majority of people wanted to keep slavery legal until the Civil War.
The main north–south highway through Dover is U.S. Route 13, which runs through the main commercial strip of Dover on the multi-lane, divided Dupont Highway. An alternate route of U.S. Route 13, U.S. Route 13 Alternate, passes through downtown Dover on Governors Avenue. The Delaware Route 1 turnpike, which provides the main route to Wilmington and the Delaware beaches, passes to the east of Dover. It ends near the Dover Air Force Base and DE 1 continues south on Bay Road. U.S. Route 113 formerly ran along Bay Road from Milford to US 13 near the State Capitol Complex, however it was decommissioned in 2004 to avoid the concurrency with DE 1 between the Dover Air Force Base and Milford. Delaware Route 8 is the main east–west route through Dover, passing through downtown on Division Street and West Dover on Forrest Avenue. It continues west toward Maryland to provide access to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Dover is one of only four state capitals not served by an interstate highway.
Dover Air Force Base is inside the southeast corporate limits of Dover, however the closest sizable civilian airport to Dover is the New Castle Airport in New Castle. The closest airports with commercial air service to Dover include the Wicomico Regional Airport in Salisbury, Maryland, the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dover is on a former Pennsylvania Railroad line, which is now served by Norfolk Southern. At one time Dover had a daily Amtrak passenger service; however, the line now is just used for local freight. The closest passenger rail station is the Amtrak station in Wilmington.
DART First State provides weekday local bus service throughout Dover, speading from the Water Street Transfer Center in downtown. They also provide inter-county service to Wilmington and Georgetown and seasonal service to Rehoboth Beach.
Greyhound Lines are provided as inter-city bus transportation.
Dover has Delaware State University, a land-grant university and Delaware's only historically black university, and Wesley College. It is also home to the Terry Campus of the Delaware Technical & Community College and that college's administrative offices. Dover also has satellite locations of the University of Delaware and Wilmington University.
Three public high schools serve Dover residents. Caesar Rodney High School, in the Caesar Rodney School District (just outside the city in Camden); Dover High School, in the Capital School District; and Polytech High School, in the Polytech School District (in Woodside).
The Dover Air Force Base Middle School is on the grounds of the Dover Air Force Base. This school is unusual in that it is run by the Caesar Rodney School District and not the Department of Defense.
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital city of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is also the county seat of Ada County.
The Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial is in Boise. It is the only human rights memorial in the US.
Although different people believe different stories about the origin of the name, it is generally accepted that the name "Boise" originates from the French word "boisée" which means "wooded".
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County, Illinois. It is close to the center of the state. In the 2000 census, Springfield had more than 110,000 people living in it.
The state Capitol, in the middle of Springfield, is where the General Assembly (the state's legislature) meets and where the governor's office is. The Capitol is a big building with a dome that can be seen from many miles away. Springfield also has an old capitol, which is now a historic site.
Springfield was the home of Abraham Lincoln before he was elected president in 1860. Lincoln was a lawyer and practiced law many places in Illinois. His office is near the old capitol. When he died, his body was brought back to Springfield. His home, his law office, his tomb are all open to the public. Springfield also has a new building with a museum and library dedicated to him and his presidency.
Springfield has two Interstate highways: I-55 and I-72. I-55 runs from Chicago to Springfield and then through St. Louis, Missouri. Springfield also has many smaller roads to other cities.
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital city and largest city in the state of Indiana, in the United States. In the 2000 census, it had more than 790,000 people living in it, making it one of the 15 largest cities in the country. It is the home of the Indianapolis Colts football team and the Indiana Pacers basketball team. Each May, the city hosts the "Indianapolis 500" car race.
Indianapolis Stations
WFYI PBS
WTHR NBC
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is a city in Iowa. It is the capital city of Iowa. The city had a population of 203,433 in the 2010 United States Census.
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas. Topeka is the county seat of Shawnee County, and it is in the northeast part of the state. In 2010, 127,473 people lived there.
Topeka was established in 1854 when nine white men founded the Topeka Town Association. At an election in November 1861, the people of Kansas chose Topeka as the permanent capital of the state.
The name "Topeka" is made up of three words from the Kaw, Omaha, and Iowa Native American tribes. The first, "to", means "potato". The second, "pe" (short for "pekae") is an adjective meaning "good". The third, "okae", means "to dig". Thus, the name "Topeka" means "a good place to dig potatoes". The name was chosen because "[i]t was a novel name of Indian origin, euphonious [pleasing] of sound and simple".