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.

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
's clock tower]]
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. 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
 in Downtown Hartford]]
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%.

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 . 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