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HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - USA
Hartford is the capital of the state of Connecticut, in Hartford County. It
is located on the Connecticut River, near the center of the state. As of the
2000 census, the population of the city was 121,578. It is the second
largest city in the state, after Bridgeport.
Its main newspapers are the daily Hartford Courant and the weekly Hartford
Advocate.
It is the home of Trinity College, the
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford Seminary, the University of Hartford (in the
adjoining town of West Hartford), and the University of Connecticut Law
School. The Institute of Living was one of the first psychiatric hospitals
in the nation.
Hartford is also a center of the insurance industry, and home to Colt
Firearms and large corporations like United Technologies (which owns Pratt &
Whitney, Otis Elevator, and Sikorsky Aircraft).
Harriet Beecher Stowe was originally from the Litchfield, Connecticut area,
but settled in Hartford during the 1870s. Her house on Forest Street is now
open to the public, right next to her famous neighbor's old mansion, Mark
Twain.
Mark Twain moved to Hartford in 1874 and lived in Hartford for many years.
The Mark Twain House is a national historic site. Twain, whose real name was
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, wrote many of his most famous works in Hartford,
including The Gilded Age, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, A Connecticut Yankee
in King Arthur's Court, Roughing It, and his most read and controversial
work, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Wallace Stevens, the poet, was an insurance executive here.
Katharine Hepburn and Stephen Cole Kleene were born here.
Hartford, Connecticut, is just south of Bradley International Airport in
Windsor Locks, Connecticut; the airport also serves the Springfield,
Massachusetts area.
History
Dutch fur traders from New Netherland colony set up trade in the site as
early as 1623, after Adriaen Block explored it in 1614. The Dutch named
their post the 'Hope House' (Huys de Hoop). Prior to the Dutch arrival, the
Indians who inhabited the area had called it Suckiaug.
By 1633 Jacob van Curler had added a block house and palisade to the post
while New Amsterdam sent a small garrison and a pair of cannons. The fort
was abandoned by 1654, but its neighborhood in Hartford is still known as
Dutch Point.
The first English settlers arrived in 1636. Thomas Hooker led 100 settlers
with 130 head of cattle in a trek from Newtown (now Cambridge) in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony and started their settlement just north of the
Dutch fort. The settlement was originally called Newtown, but was changed to
Hartford in 1637 to honor the English city of Hertford.
During the early 1800s, the Hartford area was a center of abolitionist
activity. The most famous abolitionist family was the Beechers. Rev. Lyman
Beecher was an important Congregational minister known for his anti-slavery
sermons. His daughter, Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote the famous Uncle Tom's
Cabin, while her brother, Henry Ward Beecher, was a noted clergymen who
vehemently opposed slavery and supported the temperance movement and woman's
suffrage. Beecher Stowe's 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-1800s
campaigning.
In July 6, 1944, Hartford was the scene of one of the worst fire disasters
in the history of the United States. The fire, which occurred at a
performance of the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey circus, became known as
the Hartford Circus Fire.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
46.5 km˛ (18.0 mi˛). 44.8 km˛ (17.3 mi˛) of it is land and 1.7 km˛ (0.7 mi˛)
of it is water. The total area is 3.67% water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 121,578 people, 44,986 households, and
27,171 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,711.8/km˛
(7,025.5/mi˛). There are 50,644 housing units at an average density of
1,129.6 persons/km˛ (2,926.5 persons/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city is
27.72% White , 38.05% African American, 0.54% Native American, 1.62% Asian,
0.11% Pacific Islander, 26.51% from other races, and 5.44% from two or more
races. 40.52% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 44,986 households out of which 34.4% have children under the age
of 18 living with them, 25.2% are married couples living together, 29.6%
have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 39.6% are non-families.
33.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.6% have someone
living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is
2.58 and the average family size is 3.33.
In the city the population is spread out with 30.1% under the age of 18,
12.6% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 9.5% who
are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 30 years. For every 100
females there are 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there
are 86.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $24,820, and the median
income for a family is $27,051. Males have a median income of $28,444 versus
$26,131 for females. The per capita income for the city is $13,428. 30.6% of
the population and 28.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the
total people living in poverty, 41.0% are under the age of 18 and 23.2% are
65 or older.
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