Hartford, Connecticut (CT), United States

Facts & Statistics
Place Name	Hartford
Place Status (Type)	city
Capital Of	Conn. and Hartford County
Population	139,739 (1990)
Location	Hartford County, Connecticut (CT), United States, North America
Latitude	41°46'N
Longitude	72°40'W

Hartford , city (1990 pop. 139,739), Conn. and Hartford co., central Conn., on the W bank of the Connecticut R.; 41°46'N 72°40'W. Settled as Newtown 1635-1636 on the site of a Du. trading post (1633; abandoned 1654). The 2d-largest city in the state, it is a port of entry and a world-famous insurance center. Its insurance business began in 1794, and the area remains home to the hq. of several major companies (although mergers and downsizing during the 1990s diminished the insurance industry's importance somewhat). During the 1970s and 1980s, however, many insurance companies branched out of the city into the growing suburban locations. Mfg. includes precision instruments, computers, transportation equip., firearms, and electric equip. One of the earliest and strongest colonial centers, Hartford and 2 other towns formed (1639) the Conn. Colony, adopting the Fundamental Orders. From 1701 to 1875 it was joint capital with New Haven. It was an important military supply depot during the Amer. Revolution, and in 1814-1815, it hosted the Hartford Convention. Landmarks include the Old State House (1796; designed by Charles Bulfinch), where the Hartford Convention met; the site of the Charter Oak; the capitol (completed 1878; designed by Richard M. Upjohn); and the famous Travelers Insurance tower. The Conn. state lib. includes the Colt collection of firearms. Has a noted art mus. (the Wadsworth Atheneum), a symphony orchestra, and an opera company. Other attractions are the Harriet Beecher Stowe House (1871), where Stowe lived 1873-1896, and the Mark Twain Memorial (1873-1874). Noah Webster, John Fiske, and the elder J. P. Morgan were b. here; the theologian Horace Bushnell, the author Charles Dudley Warner, and the poet Wallace Stevens lived here. The Hartford Courant, founded in 1764, is one of the country's oldest newspapers. The city's many parks include Elizabeth Park, scene of an annual rose festival, and Colt Park. Among Hartford's institutions of higher education are Trinity Col., Capital Community Technical Col., the Univ. of Hartford, Hartford Col. for Women, and a branch of the Univ. of Conn. There is also the Amer. School for the Deaf (in West Hartford) and the Conn. Inst. for the Blind. Constitution Plaza, a 15-acre/6-ha development project, was completed in 1964. Inc. 1784.