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Interesting Facts
- Originally settled by Dutch fur traders as Fort New Hope, Hartford was eventually founded by Thomas Hooker and a following of Puritan dissenters from Massachusetts. The colony's Fundamental Orders of 1639 is considered the world's first written constitution and gives Connecticut the nickname of the Constitution State.
- Downtown Hartford is the heart of the city's social and cultural life. When touring, be sure to visit the Wadsworth Athenaeum, which is the nation's oldest public art museum. Opened in 1842, this museum is nationally recognized for its collection, which is comprised of more than 45,000 pieces that span 5000 years of sculptures and paintings, china, furniture, and textiles.
- The first written insurance policy was delivered when a city resident had his home insured against fire in 1794. This policy led to the founding of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company in 1810. After a consuming fire in New York City in 1835, the popularity of the insurance company boomed. Many other types of insurance were soon to follow. Today, Hartford continues to be recognized as the insurance capital of America.
- "Don't follow me, I'm lost too!" You won't be in this scenario in the Hartford area thanks to the public servants known as the Hartford Guides. These uniformed men and women patrol the streets downtown to assist people with information, directions, and tours. What's even better is that they are easily recognized – they are dressed in red, khaki, and white and they provide their services free of charge!
- William T.G. Morton, one of the early champions of anesthesia, is one of Hartford's distinguished sons. Therefore, it would only be appropriate for Hartford to boast a one-of-a-kind museum that traces the history of anesthesia. The museum also exhibits medical instruments and medications that have been in use for the past 300 years!
- For you literary folks, Hartford is a masterpiece! Both Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin (the 1852 Abolitionist classic), and Mark Twain resided in Hartford. Twain moved to Hartford in 1874 and built a flamboyant gabled mansion. Some of his most famous works, such as Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Life on the Mississippi, were composed here.
- Armsmear, the home of Samuel Colt, is open to visitors by appointment only. Colt, the inventor of the "gun that won the West," founded his factory in Hartford in 1855.
- Take time to stop and smell the roses at Elizabeth Park! Be sure to catch a glimpse and whiff of the some 15,000 roses that grow in beds, over archways, on fences, and around gazebos. Try to visit the nation's first municipal rose garden sometime between late June and early July, which is when the roses are at their peak!
- Many notables, including J.P. Morgan and Katharine Hepburn, come from Hartford. The city also produced some interesting items that should be mentioned, such as the pay telephone and the Pope Motor Car!
- As the capital of Connecticut, Hartford has plenty of history to explore and the state capitol grounds are a great place to begin! Frederick Law Olmstead, the father of American landscape architecture, was born in Hartford and designed the state capitol grounds. Olmstead also played a large part in designing New York City's Central Park!
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