Hartford is a city in Connecticut and capital of the state. It is located in Hartford County, situated at the head of navigation on the west bank of the Connecticut River in the north central part of the state. Hartford is a financial, commercial, and service-oriented city, famous since the 1790s as one of the leading centers of the insurance business in the United States. Manufactures comprise of aerospace equipment, industrial machinery, and firearms. Air transportation is through Bradley International Airport.
Among the points of interest of Hartford are the Old State House (1796), a great example of the Federal style of architecture created by Charles Bulfinch; the State Capitol (1879), which has in its historic collections the tombstone of Israel Putnam, a general around the American Revolution (1775-1783); and also the homes of the writers Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Other points of interest are the Wadsworth Athenaeum, started out during 1844 and considered the nation's oldest public art museum; Real Art Ways, an art gallery which also highlights performing arts; and Elizabeth Park, famous for its numerous types of roses.
Hartford is home to a symphony orchestra, ballet company, opera, as well as theater. The city is the seat of Trinity College (1823), Hartford College for Women (1939), Hartford Graduate Center (1955), and Hartford Seminary (1834); the University of Hartford (1877) is in nearby West Hartford. The Hartford Courant, developed within 1764, is one of the country's oldest newspapers.
Long lived on by Native Americans of the Saukiog people, the area was first visited by Europeans when Adriaen Block, a Dutch navigator, explored the Connecticut River within 1614. During 1633 the Dutch established the House of Hope, a trading post and fort. The very first English settlement was founded within 1635 by John Steele and a band of companions; in 1636 the Reverend Thomas Hooker and his assistant, Samuel Stone, came with most of their congregation from New Towne (now Cambridge, Massachusetts). The following year the settlement was named Hartford pertaining to Hertford, England, Stone's birthplace.
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