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Hartford is the capital of the State of Connecticut. It is located in Hartford County on the Connecticut River, north of the center of the state. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 121,578, but a July 1, 2005 Census estimate put the city's population at 124,397[1]. It is the third largest city in the state, after Bridgeport and New Haven.[1] Greater Hartford is also the largest metro area in Connecticut and 44th in the country (2004 census estimate) with a population of 1,184,241. Sometimes referred to as the "insurance capital of the world," Hartford houses many of the world's insurance company headquarters, and insurance is one of the region's major industries. (The State of Connecticut is sometimes still known as "the land of steady habits.") The region has a relatively low population of adults between the ages of 18 and 25, although Hartford itself has a relatively young population. Hartford's West End is home to Elizabeth Park, the oldest and largest municipal rose garden in the country. Hartford is also home to Bushnell, Colt, Goodwin, Rocky Ridge, Keney, Pope, and Riverside Parks. History
After Dutch explorer Adriaen Block visited the area in 1614, fur traders from the New Netherland colony set up trade at Fort Goede Hoop (Good Hope) at the confluence of the Connecticut River and the Park River as early as 1623 but abandoned their post by 1654. The neighborhood near the site is still known as Dutch Point. The first English settlers arrived in 1635. The settlement was originally called Newtown, but was renamed, Hartford in 1637. One theory about the origins of the name "Hartford" was to honor the English town of Hertford. The pastor of the church that founded Hartford, Thomas Hooker, early delivered a sermon which inspired the writing of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, a document (ratified January 14, 1639) investing the people with the authority to govern, rather than ceding it to a higher power. Some historians credit Hooker's concepts of self-rule as being a forerunner of the U.S. Constitution. On December 15, 1814, delegations from New England gathered at the Hartford Convention to discuss secession from the United States. Later in the century, Hartford was a center of abolitionist activity. In July 6, 1944, the Hartford Circus Fire became one of the deadliest fires in the history of the United States. On November 3, 1981, Thirman L. Milner became the city's first African-American mayor and the first black mayor elected in New England. In 1987, Carrie Saxon Perry was elected mayor of Hartford, the first African-American woman mayor of a major American city. Starting in the late 1950s, as the suburbs ringing Hartford continued to grow and flourish, the capital city began a long economic decline. This decline may have been accelerated by construction of automobile highways (including I-84 & I-91 which intersect in downtown Hartford) built to make access to the suburbs easier. People with the means to do so started moving out of the city and into the suburbs and as the years went by people kept moving farther out. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, many workers in Hartford lived in towns (including Canton, Simsbury, Avon, Hebron, Marlborough and Cromwell) located more than a twenty-minute daily commute from the city. In the last few years, revitalization efforts have started with the common goal being to get more people living downtown which before had become desolate when employees left the city. Research Tips
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