Hartford

History

Various Native American tribes lived in or around Hartford, all Algonquian peoples. These included the Podunks, mostly east of the Connecticut River; the Poquonocks north and west of Hartford; the Massacoes in the Simsbury area; the Tunxis tribe in West Hartford and Farmington; the Wangunks to the south; and the Saukiog in Hartford itself.

Colonial Hartford

The first Europeans known to have explored the area were the Dutch under Adriaen Block, who sailed up the Connecticut in 1614. Dutch fur traders from New Amsterdam returned in 1623 with a mission to establish a trading post and fortify the area for the Dutch West India Company. The original site was located on the south bank of the Park River in the present-day Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhood. This fort was called Fort Hoop or the "House of Hope." In 1633, Jacob Van Curler formally bought the land around Fort Hoop from the Pequot chief for a small sum. It was home to perhaps a couple of families and a few dozen soldiers. The fort was abandoned by 1654, but 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. A significant reason for establishment of the Dutch trading post was to better control the flow of wampum, the de facto currency of New Netherland and portions of New England, to and from valuable Native American fur traders.

The Dutch outpost and the tiny contingent of Dutch soldiers who were stationed there did little to check the English migration, and the Dutch soon realized that they were vastly outnumbered. The House of Hope remained an outpost, but it was steadily swallowed up by waves of English settlers. In 1650, Peter Stuyvesant met with English representatives to negotiate a permanent boundary between the Dutch and English colonies; the line that they agreed on was more than 50 miles (80 km) west of the original settlement.

The English began to arrive in 1636, settling upstream from Fort Hoop near the present-day Downtown and Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhoods. Puritan pastors Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone, along with Governor John Haynes, led 100 settlers with 130 head of cattle in a trek from Newtown in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (now Cambridge) and started their settlement just north of the Dutch fort. The settlement was originally called Newtown, but it was changed to Hartford in 1637 in honor of Stone's hometown of Hertford, England. The etymology of Hartford is the ford where harts cross, or "deer crossing."

As the Puritan minister in Hartford, Thomas Hooker wielded a great deal of power; in 1638, he delivered a sermon that inspired the writing of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, which provided a framework for Connecticut's separation for Massachusetts Bay Colony and the formation of a civil government. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were the legal basis for Connecticut Colony until the 1662 royal charter granted to Connecticut by Charles II.

19th century

On December 15, 1814, delegates from the five New England states (Maine was still part of Massachusetts at that time) gathered at the Hartford Convention to discuss New England's possible secession from the United States. During the early 19th century, the Hartford area was a center of abolitionist activity, and 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 noted clergyman who vehemently opposed slavery and supported the temperance movement and women's suffrage. The Stowes' sister Isabella Beecher Hooker was a leading member of the women's rights movement.

In 1860, Hartford was the site of the first "Wide Awakes", abolitionist supporters of Abraham Lincoln. These supporters organized torch-light parades that were both political and social events, often including fireworks and music, in celebration of Lincoln's visit to the city. This type of event caught on and eventually became a staple of mid-to-late 19th-century campaigning.

Hartford was a major manufacturing city from the 19th century until the mid-20th century. During the Industrial Revolution into the mid-20th century, the Connecticut River Valley cities produced many major precision manufacturing innovations. Among these was Hartford's pioneer bicycle and automobile maker Pope. Many factories have been closed or relocated, or have reduced operations, as in nearly all former Northern manufacturing cities.

Around 1850, Hartford native Samuel Colt perfected the precision manufacturing process that enabled the mass production of thousands of his revolvers with interchangeable parts. A variety of industries adopted and adapted these techniques over the next several decades, and Hartford became the center of production for a wide array of products, including: Colt, Richard Gatling, and John Browning firearms; Weed sewing machines; Columbia bicycles; Pope automobiles; and leading typewriter manufacturers Royal Typewriter Company and Underwood Typewriter Company, which together made Hartford the "Typewriter Capitol of the World" during the first half of the 20th century.

The Pratt & Whitney Company was founded in Hartford in 1860 by Francis A. Pratt and Amos Whitney. They built a substantial factory in which the company manufactured a wide range of machine tools, including tools for the makers of sewing machines, and gun-making machinery for use by the Union Army during the American Civil War. In 1925, the company expanded into aircraft engine design at its Hartford factory.

20th century

On the week of April 12, 1909, the Connecticut River reached a record flood stage of 24.5 feet (7.5 meters) above the low-water mark, flooding the city of Hartford and doing great damage. On July 6, 1944, Hartford was the scene of one of the worst fire disasters in the history of the United States. Claiming the lives of 168 persons, mostly children and their mothers, and injuring several hundred more. It occurred at a matinee performance of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus on Barbour Street in the city's north end and became known as the Hartford Circus Fire.

After World War II, many residents of Puerto Rico moved to Hartford. Starting in the late 1950s, the suburbs ringing Hartford began to grow and flourish and the capital city began a long decline. Insurance giant Connecticut General (now CIGNA) moved to a new, modern campus in the suburb of Bloomfield. Constitution Plaza had been hailed as a model of urban renewal, but it gradually became a concrete office park. Once-flourishing department stores shut down, such as Brown Thomson, Sage-Allen, and G. Fox & Co., as suburban malls grew in popularity, such as Westfarms and Buckland Hills.

In 1997, the city lost its professional hockey franchise, with the Hartford Whalers moving to Raleigh, North Carolina—despite an increase in season ticket sales and an offer from the state for a new arena. In 2005, a developer from Newton, Massachusetts tried unsuccessfully to bring an NHL team back to Hartford and house them in a new, publicly funded stadium.

Hartford experienced problems as the population shrank 11 percent during the 1990s. Only Flint, Michigan; Gary, Indiana; St. Louis, Missouri; and Baltimore, Maryland experienced larger population losses during the decade. Nonetheless, the population has increased since the 2000 Census.

In 1987, Carrie Saxon Perry was elected mayor of Hartford, becoming the first female African-American mayor of a major American city. Riverfront Plaza was opened in 1999, connecting the riverfront and the downtown area for the first time since the 1960s.

21st century

A significant number of cultural events and performances take place every year at Mortensen Plaza (Riverfront Recapture Organization) by the banks of the Connecticut River. These events are held outdoors and include live music, festivals, dance, arts and crafts. Hartford also has a vibrant theater scene with major Broadway productions at the Bushnell Theater as well as performances at the Hartford Stage and TheaterWorks (City Arts).

In July 2017, Hartford considered filing Chapter 9 bankruptcy. After years of contending with a shrinking population base and high pension obligations, a $65 million budget gap was projected for the year of 2018. The city had cut the budget of public services and received union concessions, but these measures did not balance the budget. A state bailout later that year kept the city from filing for bankruptcy.

Downtown Hartford is busy during the day with commuters, but tends to be quiet in the evenings and weekends. More recently, increased residential and retail development has begun changing the pattern.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.0 square miles (47 km2), of which 17.3 square miles (45 km2) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (3.67%) is water.

The city of Hartford is bordered by the towns of West Hartford, Newington, Wethersfield, East Hartford, Bloomfield, South Windsor, Glastonbury, and Windsor. The Connecticut River forms the boundary between Hartford and East Hartford, and is located on the east side of the city.

The Park River originally divided Hartford into northern and southern sections and was a major part of Bushnell Park, but the river was nearly completely enclosed and buried by flood control projects in the 1940s. The former course of the river can still be seen in some of the roadways that were built in the river's place, such as Jewell Street and the Conlin-Whitehead Highway.

Climate

The Köppen climate classification categorizes Hartford as hot-summer humid continental (Dfa) bordering on humid subtropical (Cfa). Winters are moderately cold, with periods of snow, while summers are hot and humid. Spring and fall are normally transition seasons, with weather ranging from warm to cool. The city of Hartford lies in USDA Hardiness zone 6b-7a.

Seasonally, the period from April through October is warm to hot in Hartford, with the hottest months being June, July, and August. In the summer months there is often high humidity and occasional (but brief) thundershowers. The cool to cold months are from November through March, with the coldest months in December, January, and February having average highs of 35 to 38 °F (2 to 3 °C) and overnight lows of around 18 to 23 °F (−8 to −5 °C).

The average annual precipitation is approximately 47.05 inches (1,200 mm), which is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. Hartford typically receives about 51.7 inches (131 cm) of snow in an average winter—about 40% more than coastal Connecticut cities like New Haven, Stamford, and New London. Seasonal snowfall has ranged from 115.2 inches (293 cm) during the winter of 1995–96 to 13.5 inches (34 cm) in 1999–2000. During the summer, temperatures reach or exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on an average of 17 days per year; in the winter, overnight temperatures can dip to a range of 5 to −5 °F (−15 to −21 °C) on at least one night a year. Tropical storms and hurricanes have also struck Hartford, although the occurrence of such systems is rare and is usually confined to the remnants of such storms. Hartford saw extensive damage from the 1938 New England Hurricane, as well as with Hurricane Irene in 2011. The highest officially recorded temperature is 103 °F (39 °C) on July 22, 2011, and the lowest is −26 °F (−32 °C) on January 22, 1961; the record cold daily maximum is −2 °F (−19 °C) on December 2, 1917, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum is 80 °F (27 °C) on July 31, 1917.

Neighborhoods

The central business district, as well as the State Capitol, Old State House and a number of museums and shops are located Downtown. Parkville, home to Real Art Ways, is named for the confluence of the north and the south branches of the Park River. Frog Hollow, in close proximity to Downtown, is home to Pope Park and Trinity College, which is one of the nation's oldest institutions of higher learning. Asylum Hill, a mixed residential and commercial area, houses the headquarters of several insurance companies as well as the historic homes of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe. The West End, home to the Governor's residence, Elizabeth Park, and the University of Connecticut School of Law, abuts the Hartford Golf Club. Sheldon Charter Oak is renowned as the location of the Charter Oak and its successor monument as well as the former Colt headquarters including Samuel Colt's family estate, Armsmear. The North East neighborhood is home to Keney Park and a number of the city's oldest and most ornate homes. The South End features "Little Italy" and was the home of Hartford's sizeable Italian community. South Green hosts Hartford Hospital. The South Meadows is the site of Hartford–Brainard Airport and Hartford's industrial community. The North Meadows has retail strips, car dealerships, and Comcast Theatre. Blue Hills is home of the University of Hartford and also houses the largest per capita of residents claiming Jamaican-American heritage in the United States. Other neighborhoods in Hartford include Barry Square, Behind the Rocks, Clay Arsenal, South West, and Upper Albany, which is dotted by many Caribbean restaurants and specialty stores.

Demographics

At the 2010 United States census, there were 124,775 people, 44,986 households, and 27,171 families residing in the city. At the American Community Survey's 2019 estimates, the population increased to 123,088. The 2020 United States census tabulated a population of 121,054.

Hartford's racial and ethnic makeup in 2019 was 36.0% White, 42.7% Black or African American, 23.7% some other race, 3.4% Asian, 1.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.3% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders. 43.4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino, chiefly of Puerto Rican origin. Non-Hispanic Whites were 15.8% of the population in 2010.

The city's Hispanic and Latino population primarily consisted of Puerto Ricans (33.63%), Dominicans (3.0%), Mexicans (1.6%), Cubans (0.4%) and other Hispanic or Latinos at 5.63%.

The Hispanic and Latino population is concentrated on the city's south side, while African Americans are concentrated in the north. The white population forms a majority in only two census tracts: the downtown area and the far northwest. Nevertheless, many areas in the middle of the city, in Asylum Hill, and in West End, have a significant white population. More than three-quarters (77%) of the Hispanic population was Puerto Rican (with more than half born on the island of Puerto Rico) and fully 33.7% of all Hartford residents claimed Puerto Rican heritage. This is the second-largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the Northeast, behind only Holyoke, Massachusetts, approximately 30 miles (48 km) to the north along the Connecticut River.

There are small but recognizable concentrations of people with origins in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and the Dominican Republic as well. Among the non-Hispanic population, the largest ancestry group is from Jamaica; in 2014, Hartford was home to an estimated 11,400 Jamaican Americans, as well as another 1,200 people who identified otherwise as West Indian Americans.

There were 44,986 households, out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.2% were married couples living together, 29.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.6% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.33.

Economy

Hartford is a center for medical care, research, and education. Within the city of Hartford itself, hospitals include 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).

Hartford is also the historic international center of the insurance industry, with companies like Aetna, Conning & Company, The Hartford, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, The Phoenix Companies, and Hartford Steam Boiler based in the city, and companies like Prudential Financial, Lincoln National Corporation, Sun Life Financial Travelers, UnitedHealth Group#UnitedHealthcare and Axa XL having major operations in the city. Insurance giant Aetna had its headquarters in Hartford before announcing a relocation to New York City in July 2017. When CVS acquired Aetna a few months later, however, they announced Aetna would remain in Hartford for at least four years. The city is also home to the corporate headquarters of CareCentrix, Choice Merchant Solutions, Global Atlantic Financial Group, Hartford Healthcare, Insurity, LAZ Parking, ProPark Mobility, U.S. Fire Arms, and Virtus Investment Partners.

In 2008, Sovereign Bank consolidated two bank branches as well as its regional headquarters in a nineteenth-century palazzo on Asylum Street. Bank of America and People's United Financial have a significant corporate presence in Hartford. In 2009, Northeast Utilities, a Fortune 500 company and New England's largest energy utility, announced it would establish its corporate headquarters downtown.

Hartford is a burgeoning technology hub. In March 2018, Infosys announced that opening of a new technology innovation hub in Hartford, creating up to 1,000 jobs by 2022. The Hartford technology innovation hub will focus on three key sectors- insurance, healthcare and manufacturing. Hartford has continued to attract technology companies including CGI Inc., Covr Financial Technologies, GalaxE. Solutions, HCL Technologies and Larsen & Toubro. Insurance software provider Insurity is also headquartered in the city.

Local unemployment remains high in Hartford compared to other cities, the state, and the U.S. Of the four major cities in Connecticut (Bridgeport, New Haven, and Stamford), Hartford's unemployment rate of 7.5% in the fall of 2018 was the highest. As a whole, Connecticut's unemployment rate remains above 5% while the national rate hovers just under 4%.

Arts and culture

Cuisine

The first American cookbook was American Cookery, The Art of Dressing Viands, Fish, Poultry, and Vegetables by Amelia Simmons, published in Hartford by Hudson & Goodwin in 1796. It was also the first cookbook to include recipes for squash and cornmeal, and it contained 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's cuisine was shaped by its early settlers, who brought Dutch and English influence that combined with that of the Saukiog Native Americans in the area. The first half of the 20th century brought significant Polish immigration and a number of Polish restaurants, some of which still operate today. Italian food wasn't always accepted; a long-time Hartford restaurant owner recollected that, "in 1938, you wouldn't put an Italian name on a restaurant sign because everyone would think you were associated with the Mafia." The New York Times remarked on the diversity of food available in Hartford in 1979, noting that "Hartford has undergone a culinary revolution in recent years."

Hartford earned praise from Food and Wine as "a foodie destination". Food trucks are restricted to designated areas in the city, mostly along Bushnell Park in Downtown Hartford and at farmers' markets. Food can today be found throughout the city from a very wide variety of ethnic influence.

Hartford hosts a number of seasonal farmers' markets. The Hartford Regional Market is the largest market between New York City and Boston. In 2018, the Connecticut State Assembly voted to transfer ownership of the Regional Market to the Capital Region Development Authority, leaving its future somewhat uncertain.

The seashore is less than 35 miles (56 km) away and has played a large role in Hartford's food habits. Recently there has been an aquaculture boom in Long Island Sound, and as a result local kelp has started to appear on plates. The Connecticut River Valley is the most agriculturally productive region in New England and neighboring Wethersfield is renowned for its red onions, whose smell was said to waft into Hartford when production was at its historical height in the early 1800s.

Hartford and the surrounding area have a vibrant craft beer, cider, and spirit industry, and there were more than two dozen breweries and distilleries in the Hartford area in 2017. The Connecticut Spirits Trail has a number of stops in Hartford and surrounding towns. These businesses all feed the city's collection of bars and nightclubs.

Points of interest

Aetna building – Aetna building on Farmington Avenue is the world's largest Colonial Revival building, crowned by a tall Georgian tower inspired by the Old State House downtown.

Ancient Burying Ground – The oldest historic site in Hartford and the city's first graveyard. Many of Hartford's renowned residents and founders are buried there.

Armsmear – The Colt family estate.

Bulkeley Bridge – A stone-arch bridge spanning the Connecticut River and connecting the city of Hartford with East Hartford.

Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts – The theater was constructed in the 1930s by the same architects who designed New York City's Radio City Music Hall. It features a Georgian Revival exterior and an Art Deco interior, with a large hand-painted mural suspended from the ceiling that is the largest of its kind in the United States.

Bushnell Park – This park is located below the State Capitol and legislative office complex and consists of lawn, sculpture, fountains, and a historic carousel. It is the first park in the country purchased by a municipality for public use, and it was designed by Jacob Weidenmann. The Soldiers & Sailors Civil War Memorial Arch frames the northern entrance to the park, the first triumphal arch in the United States.

Cathedral of St. Joseph – This 281-foot (86 m) limestone Roman Catholic cathedral was built in 1961 to replace its predecessor lost to fire. It is located west of downtown along Farmington Avenue in the Asylum Hill neighborhood and has large Parisian stained glass windows, an 8,000 pipe organ, and the largest ceramic tile mural of Christ in Glory in the world.

Center Church – The First Church of Christ in Hartford is located at 60 Gold Street and is also known as Center Church. It was founded by Thomas Hooker.

Cheney Building – This building was designed in the late 19th century by H. H. Richardson. It is located downtown on Main Street and once housed the Brown, Thomson & Co. department store.

Parades

Greater Hartford St. Patrick's Day Parade – Downtown – March – Run by The Central Connecticut Celtic Cultural Committee.

Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade – Downtown, South Green, and Frog Hollow – June – Run by The Connecticut Institute for Community Development.

Greater Hartford West Indian Parade – Northeast – August – Run by The West Indian Independence Celebrations since 1962.

Hooker Day Parade – Downtown – May – Run by Hartford Business Improvement District.

Connecticut Veterans Parade – Downtown – November – Run by The Ferris Group, LLC.

Sports

The Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League plays ice hockey at the PeoplesBank Arena in downtown Hartford. The PeoplesBank Arena also hosts larger-profile games for both the men's and women's basketball teams of the UConn Huskies. Other UConn home games are played at Gampel Pavilion located on the university's main campus in Storrs, Connecticut. In addition, all UConn Men's Ice Hockey home games are played at the PeoplesBank Arena.

The Hartford Yard Goats, the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, moved from New Britain to Hartford in 2017. The team currently plays at Dunkin' Donuts Park.

Hartford is home to a USL Championship division team, Hartford Athletic, which was founded in 2019 and currently plays in the 5,500-seat Trinity Health Stadium. Hartford is also home to another semi-pro soccer team, Hartford City FC, which is a member of the NPSL and also plays at Trinity Health Stadium.

Former teams

Hartford became the home of the WHA's New England Whalers in 1975 after the club moved from Boston, one of four WHA teams that joined the NHL in 1979. The city was home to the NHL's Hartford Whalers from 1979 to 1997, before the team relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina, and became the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Boston Celtics played a varying number of home games per year in Hartford from 1975 until 1995, when they opened the new TD Garden.

Hartford was also home to the Hartford Hellions of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL).

Hartford formerly had a National League baseball team, the Hartford Dark Blues, in the 1870s, and had an NFL team, the Hartford Blues, for three seasons in the 1920s.

Hartford briefly had a team in the UFL called the Hartford Colonials, but games were played in neighboring East Hartford's Rentschler Field.

From 2000 to 2006 Hartford was home to the Hartford FoxForce of World TeamTennis.

Government

Like all cities in Connecticut except Groton, Hartford is legally a consolidated city-town; both the town and the city have been legally consolidated since 1896, though since 1784 the city's boundaries have been coextensive with those of the town.

Hartford is governed via the strong-mayor form of the mayor-council system. The current mayor is Arunan Arulampalam. Hartford voted in favor of restoring a mayor-council system in 2003, more than 50 years after establishing the council-manager form. Mayor Eddie Perez was first elected in 2001 and was re-elected with 76% of the vote in 2003. As the first strong mayor elected under the revised charter, he is widely credited with reducing crime, reforming the school system, and sparking economic revitalization in the city. Nonetheless, his reputation was hurt by accusations of corruption. The city council, formally known as the "Court of Common Council", has nine members.

In Connecticut, there is no county-level executive or legislative government. The state abolished county government in 1960, and since then counties have served as little more than boundaries for the state's probate, civil, and criminal courts. Connecticut municipalities provide nearly all local services such as fire and rescue, education, and snow removal.

Hartford passed an ordinance providing services to all residents regardless of their immigration in 2008. Said ordinance also prohibits police from detaining individuals based solely on their immigration status or inquiring as to their immigration status. In 2016, the ordinance was amended to declare that Hartford is a "Sanctuary city", although the term itself does not have an established legal meaning.

Hartford is a predominantly Democratic city and has voted for every presidential candidate in the party since Al Smith in 1928. In 2016, the city voted for Clinton 90%–8%, a slight shift from voting for Obama 93%–6% in the previous election. In 2020, Joe Biden won the city's vote by a margin of 87%–13%.

Education

Primary and secondary education

Hartford is served by the Hartford Public Schools. Hartford Public High School, the nation's second-oldest high school, is located in the Asylum Hill neighborhood of Hartford. The city is also home to Bulkeley High School on Wethersfield Avenue, Global Communications Academy on Greenfield Avenue, Weaver High School on Granby Street, and Sport Medical and Sciences Academy on Huyshope Avenue. In addition, Hartford contains The Learning Corridor, which is home to the Montessori Magnet School, Hartford Magnet Middle School, Greater Harford Academy of Math and Science, and the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. One of the technical high schools in the Connecticut Technical High School System, A.I. Prince Technical High School, also calls the city home. The Classical Magnet School is one of the many Hartford magnet schools. Hartford is also home to Watkinson School, a private coeducational day school, and Grace S. Webb School, a special education school. Catholic schools are administered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford.

The city's high school graduation rate reached 71 percent in 2013, according to the state Department of Education.

Colleges and universities

Hartford has several post-secondary institutions such as Trinity College, Capital Community College, the University of Connecticut's Hartford campus, the University of Connecticut School of Business, the Hartford Seminary, the University of Connecticut School of Law, and Rensselaer at Hartford (a branch campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). University of Saint Joseph opened its school of pharmacy in the downtown area in 2011.

The University of Hartford's cultural institutions include the Joseloff Gallery, the Renee Samuels Center, and the Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts center. The "U of H" campus is co-located in the city's Blue Hills neighborhood and in neighboring towns West Hartford and Bloomfield.

Media

The daily Hartford Courant newspaper is the country's oldest continuously published newspaper, founded in 1764. A weekly newspaper, owned by the same company that owns the Courant, the Hartford Advocate, also serves Hartford and the surrounding area, as do the Hartford Business Journal ("Greater Hartford's Business Weekly") and the weekly Hartford News.

The Hartford region is also served by several magazines. Among the local publications are: Hartford Magazine, a monthly lifestyle magazine serving Greater Hartford; CT Cottages & Gardens; Connecticut Business, a glossy monthly serving all of Connecticut; and Home Living CT, a home and garden magazine published five times a year and distributed statewide.

Broadcast media

Several radio stations are based in Hartford, including WDRC (AM), WDRC (FM), WHCN (FM), WJMJ (FM), WPOP (AM), WTIC (AM), WTIC (FM), and WPKT (FM, NPR).

Hartford's major television stations include WFSB 3 (CBS), WTNH 8 (ABC), WUVN 18 (Univision), WRDM-CD 19 (Telemundo O&O), WCCT-TV 20 (The CW), WHPX-TV (Ion Television O&O), WVIT 30 (NBC O&O), WHCT-LD 35 (MeTV O&O), WCTX 59 (MyNetworkTV) and WTIC-TV 61 (Fox). PBS member stations include WEDH 24 and WEDY 65 which are both part of the Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) network. These stations serve the Hartford/New Haven market, which is the 33rd largest media market in the U.S. as of 2020.

Film

Must Read After My Death, a 2009 documentary film

Infrastructure

Transportation

I-84, which runs from Scranton to I-90 in Sturbridge, just over the Massachusetts border, and I-91, which runs from New Haven along the Connecticut River ultimately to Canada, intersect in downtown Hartford. In addition to I-84 and I-91, two other highways service the city: Route 2, an expressway that runs from downtown Hartford to Westerly, passing through Norwich and past Foxwoods Resort Casino. The Wilbur Cross Highway portion of Route 15 that skirts the southeastern part of the city near Brainard Airport. A short connector known as the Conlin–Whitehead Highway also provides direct access from I-91 to the Capitol Area of downtown Hartford. The Main Street Bridge is a historic bridge on the highway.

Hartford experiences heavy traffic as a result of its substantial suburban population (nearly 10 times that of the actual city). As a result, thousands of people travel on area highways at the start and end of each workday. I-84 experiences traffic from Farmington through Hartford and into East Hartford and Manchester during the rush hour.

Several major surface arteries also run through the city. Albany Avenue (Route 44) runs westward through the northern part of West Hartford to the Farmington Valley and the hills of northern Litchfield County and into New York, and eastward towards Putnam and into Rhode Island. Blue Hills Avenue (Route 187) runs north from Albany Avenue toward Bloomfield and East Granby. Main Street (Route 159) heads north through Windsor towards the western suburbs of Springfield, Massachusetts. Wethersfield Avenue (Route 99) heads south through Wethersfield towards Middletown. Maple Avenue heads south-southwest, becoming the Berlin Turnpike in Wethersfield and Newington. Farmington Avenue heads west through West Hartford Center and Farmington towards Torrington.

A large-scale project is being planned to rebuild the I-84 viaduct that cross through the city along with moving I-91 away from the Connecticut River.

The city is served by the 1889 built Hartford Union Station. Amtrak provides service from Hartford to Vermont via Springfield and southward to New Haven. The station also serves numerous bus companies. Hartford Union Station is also served by the Hartford Line, a commuter rail service that runs between New Haven and Springfield and stops at stations in communities along Interstate 91. It uses the rail line owned by Amtrak. "CTrail" branded trains provide service along the corridor, and riders can use Hartford Line tickets to travel on board most Amtrak trains along the corridor at the same prices. The service launched on June 16, 2018.

Emergency services

The Hartford Fire Department is the fifth-largest fire department in Connecticut. The fire department operates out of 12 fire stations located throughout the city. Three of Hartford's fire stations are on the National Register of Historic Places. Engine 1 and Engine 15 are still in use today. The station for Engine 6, disbanded in 1984, has been repurposed as a homeless shelter.

The Hartford Police Department was founded in 1860, though the history of law enforcement in Hartford begins in 1636.

Hartford outsources ambulance services to private companies, including Aetna Ambulance in the South End and American Medical Response in the North End.

Notable people

Hartford has been home to many historically significant people, such as dictionary author Noah Webster (1758–1843), American Sign Language creator Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (1787–1851), .45 Colt inventor Sam Colt (1814–1862), Gallaudet University founder Edward Miner Gallaudet (1837–1917), and American financier and industrialist J.P. Morgan (1837–1913).

Visual and performing artists

A wide range of artists hail from Hartford.

Post US Civil War, the creation of Nook Farm brought many authors and related individuals to Hartford. For example, Mark Twain (1835–1910) moved there in 1874. Twain's next-door neighbor at Nook Farm was Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896), and all the Beecher sisters lived there, including educator and publisher Catharine Beecher and feminist thinker Isabella Beecher Hooker. Poet Lydia Sigourney (1791–1865) was known as 'The Sweet singer of Hartford,' and poet Wallace Stevens (1879–1955), who was an insurance executive in the city. World War II correspondent Lyn Crost (1915–1997) lived there. More recently, Dominick Dunne (1925–2009), John Gregory Dunne (1932–2003), and Suzanne Collins (born 1962) have resided in Hartford.

Harlem Renaissance artist, Laura Wheeler Waring, was born and raised in Hartford.

Actors and others in the entertainment business from Hartford include Katharine Hepburn, Thomas Ian Griffith, Gary Merrill, Linda Evans, Eriq La Salle, Diane Venora, William Gillette, Grace Carney, and Charles Nelson Reilly, and TV producer and writer Norman Lear. Television show director Paul Stanley was born in Hartford. Marvel Comics artist George Tuska grew up in Hartford. Additionally, the fictional characters of Richard and Emily Gilmore were said to reside in Hartford on the Gilmore Girls.

In the field of music, natives include singer Sophie Tucker (1884–1966), "last of the red-hot mamas." Others include:

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Gene Pitney and Mike Carabello (of Santana)

Mark McGrath

bass guitarist Doug Wimbish of Living Colour

Cindy Blackman (drummer for Lenny Kravitz and wife of Carlos Santana)

jazz alto saxophonist Jackie McLean

Scientists

Barbara McClintock (1902–1992), pioneering cytogeneticist was born in Hartford. She was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the breakthrough discovery of genetic transposition. She is the only woman to receive an unshared Nobel Prize in the Medicine category.

Alexander Rich (1924–2015), biologist and biophysicist, was born in Hartford.

Athletes

Former Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini is from Hartford. Former NHL player Craig Janney and current player Nick Bonino were born in Hartford. Other sports stars include NBA players Marcus Camby, Rick Mahorn, Johnny Egan, and Michael Adams, as well as NFL kicker John Carney, Dwight Freeney, Tebucky Jones, and Eugene Robinson.

Other notable figures

Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, mother of president Theodore Roosevelt and paternal grandmother of Eleanor Roosevelt, was born in Hartford on July 8, 1835.

Recent developments

Adriaen's Landing – The state and privately funded project is situated on the banks of the Connecticut River along Columbus Boulevard, and connects to Constitution Plaza. Constitution Plaza forced hundreds of households to relocate when it was built a few decades ago. The latest project includes the 540,000-square-foot (50,000 m2) Connecticut Convention Center, which opened in June 2005 and is the largest meeting space between New York City and Boston. Attached to the Convention Center is the 22-story, 409-room Marriott Hartford Hotel-Downtown, which opened in August 2005. Being constructed next to the convention center and hotel is the 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m2) Connecticut Science Center.

Capital Community College at the 11-story G. Fox Department Store Building – The 913,000-square-foot (84,800 m2) former home of the G. Fox & Company Department Store on Main Street has been renovated and made the new home of Capital Community College as well as offices for the State of Connecticut and ground level retail space. Capital Community College helps train (mostly) adult students in specific career fields. On Thursdays, vendors sell crafts on the Main Street level. Two music clubs, Mezzanine and Room 960, are housed in the building.

CTfastrak – The recently completed bus rapid transit system connects Hartford's Union Station to downtown New Britain. It was built to ease traffic on I-84.

Front Street – The final component of Adriaen's Landing, Front Street, sits across from the Convention Center and covers the land between Columbus Boulevard and The Hartford Times Building. The Front Street development combines retail, entertainment and residential components. Publicly funded parts of the project will include transportation improvements. There have been significant delays in the Front Street project, and the first developer was removed from the project because of lack of progress. The city has chosen a new developer, but work is yet to begin on the retail and residential component of Front Street. The city and state may soon take action to increase the speed with which the project enters implementation phases. There has been talk of bringing an ESPN Zone to the Front Street (ESPN is headquartered in nearby Bristol). On the back side of Front Street, the historic Beaux-Arts Hartford Times Building is being converted into a downtown campus of the University of Connecticut.

Sister cities

Hartford's sister cities are:

Caguas, Puerto Rico

Dongguan, China

Floridia, Italy

Huế, Vietnam

Morant Bay, Jamaica

New Ross, Ireland

Ocotal, Nicaragua

Sogakope, Ghana

Thessaloniki, Greece

Hertford, England