HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The neighborhoods of
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
are varied and historic.


Central Business District/Downtown

Downtown is Hartford's primary business district. It is the location of the city government offices as well as the
State Capitol This is a list of state and territorial capitols in the United States, the building or complex of buildings from which the government of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia and the organized territories of the United States, exercise its ...
.


Parkville

Parkville is a mixed industrial-residential area on Hartford's west side, bounded by Capitol Avenue, Interstate 84, and New Park Avenue. It was one of the city's last areas to be developed.


Frog Hollow

Frog Hollow stretches along Capitol Avenue directly west of the
State Capitol This is a list of state and territorial capitols in the United States, the building or complex of buildings from which the government of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia and the organized territories of the United States, exercise its ...
until Laurel Street, and south towards
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
. The area takes its name from the marshy conditions in the low land near what is now the corner of Broad and Ward streets. Most of the area was farmland until 1852 when the
Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company was the manufacturer of the Sharps Rifle. The company was organized by Samuel Robbins and Richard S. Lawrence as a holding company in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 9, 1851 with $100,000 in capital. Despite ...
constructed a factory, beginning the area's transformation into a major industrial area. Although not the first factory to be situated along now-buried Park River, Sharps located there specifically to take advantage of the railroad line that had been constructed along the river in 1838. After the Sharps Rifle Company failed in 1870, the Weed Sewing Machine Company took over its factory and soon surpassed the
Colt Armory The Colt Armory is a historic factory complex for the manufacture of firearms, created by Samuel Colt. It is located in Hartford, Connecticut along the Connecticut River, and as of 2008 is part of the Coltsville Historic District, named a National ...
in nearby Coltsville in size. Inspired by a British-made, high-wheel bicycle, or velocipede, he saw at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, industrialist
Albert Pope Albert Augustus Pope (May 20, 1843 – August 10, 1909) was a Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in the Union Army. He was an importer, promoter, and manufacturer of bicycles, and a manufacturer of automobiles. Early life Pope was born on May 20, 18 ...
bought patent rights for bicycle production in the United States. Wanting to contract out his first order, however, Pope approached George Fairfield of Hartford, and the Weed Sewing Machine Company produced Pope's first run of bicycles in 1878. Bicycles proved to be a huge commercial success and production in the Weed factory expanded, with Weed making every part but the tires, and by 1890, demand for bicycles overshadowed the failing sewing machine market. That year, Pope bought the Weed factory, took over as its president, and renamed it the
Pope Manufacturing Company Pope Manufacturing Company was founded by Albert Augustus Pope around 1876 in Boston, Massachusetts, US and incorporated in Hartford, Connecticut in 1877. Manufacturing of bicycles began in 1878 in Hartford at the Weed Sewing Machine Company fact ...
. The bicycle boom was short-lived, peaking near the turn of the century when more and more consumers craved individual automobile travel, and Pope's company suffered financially from over-production amidst falling demand. In an effort to save his business, Pope opened a Motor Carriage Department and turned out electric carriages, beginning with the "Mark III" in 1897. Pope's venture might have made Hartford the capital of the automobile industry were it not for the ascendency of Henry Ford and a series of pitfalls and patent struggles that outlived Pope himself. After his business failed, Pope donated a parcel park provides recreational facilities for neighborhood families. Today, the park provides recreational facilities for neighborhood families. Park Street has also been called "New England's Spanish Main Street" because of the predominantly Puerto Rican population and merchants. Former Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez hoped to attract new merchants looking to expand their businesses into Hartford and in 2005, plans were first floated to spend $64 million on a project at the intersection of Park Street and Main Street. Original plans included two luxury condo towers, some retail, and a massive main square—or Plaza Mayor, as it came to be known. The plan later got smaller in size, and was eventually shelved entirely during the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
. The neighborhood is home to Hartford Superior Court, Hartford Community Court, Family Court,
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
, The Learning Corridor
The Lyceum Resource and Conference Center
and Broad Street Juvenile Court.


Asylum Hill

Asylum Hill is a centrally located Hartford neighborhood with about 10,500 residents. It rises uphill directly west of
Downtown Hartford Downtown Hartford, Connecticut is the primary business district and the center of Connecticut's state government. Due to the large number of insurance companies headquartered downtown, Hartford is known as the "Insurance Capital of the World". B ...
but is mostly flat until it slopes downward at its western edge, along the flood plain of the north branch of the now-buried Park River. Aside from the river, it is bound on its other three sides by railroad tracks and
I-84 Interstate 84 may refer to: * Interstate 84 (Oregon–Utah), passing through Idaho, formerly known as Interstate 80N * Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts) Interstate 84 (I-84) is an Interstate Highway in the Northeaster ...
. Originally known as 'Lords Hill', the area was primarily farmland and named after one of the city's original settlers. In the early 1800s, the area was dominated by the Imlay farm, which occupied most of the land from present-day Imlay Street west to the north branch of the Park River, and from Farmington Avenue south to the Park River. In 1807 the Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons was founded here and its first student,
Alice Cogswell Alice Cogswell (August 31, 1805 – December 30, 1830) was the inspiration to Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet for the creation of the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. Cogswell and Gallaudet At the age of two, Cogswell became il ...
, was enrolled. She is depicted in a commemorative statue, designed by Frances Wadsworth, that honors
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (December 10, 1787 – September 10, 1851) was an American educator. Along with Laurent Clerc and Mason Cogswell, he co-founded the first permanent institution for the education of the deaf in North America, and he becam ...
, Mason F. Cogswell and
Laurent Clerc Louis Laurent Marie Clerc (; 26 December 1785 – 18 July 1869) was a French teacher called "The Apostle of the Deaf in America" and was regarded as the most renowned deaf person in American Deaf History. He was taught by Abbé Sicard and dea ...
, founders of the
American School for the Deaf The American School for the Deaf (ASD), originally ''The American Asylum, At Hartford, For The Education And Instruction Of The Deaf'', is the oldest permanent school for the deaf in the United States, and the first school for children with disa ...
, which was the first of its kind in the country. It remained at its original location for 100 years. The area became known as Asylum Hill. John Hooker and
Francis Gillette Francis Gillette (December 14, 1807 – September 30, 1879) was a politician from Connecticut, USA. He was the father of actor and playwright William Gillette and politician and editor Edward H. Gillette. Gillette was born in Old Windsor, ...
purchased the farm in 1853 for the purpose of developing the real estate into smaller holdings. They built their own homes and encouraged friends to do the same. As a result, a literary colony developed that included
Isabella Beecher Hooker Isabella Beecher Hooker (February 22, 1822 – January 25, 1907) was a leader, lecturer and social activist in the American suffragist movement. Early life Isabella Holmes Beecher was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, the fifth child and secon ...
, the Gillettes,
Charles Dudley Warner Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
,
Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the harsh ...
,
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
, and other reformers and activists. The area became known as Nook Farm, taking its name from the bend‚ or “nook‚” in the Park River‚ which bordered the area. Some houses of this colony still survive. Most notably, the home of Samuel Clemens who wrote under the pseudonym
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
. He created some of his most notable works, including ''
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' is an 1876 novel by Mark Twain about a boy growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the town of St. Petersburg, which is based on Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy. In the nov ...
'' and ''
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'' is an 1889 novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The book was originally titled ''A Yankee in King Arthur's Court''. Some early editions are titled ''A Yankee at the Court of King Arth ...
'', while living in Hartford. These houses, along with the Katherine Day House, are preserved as museums open to the public. By the early 1900s Asylum Hill had become an established residential area, with spacious Victorian-style homes. Beginning in the 1920s, major insurance companies began moving from downtown to Asylum Hill and would bring major change with office development.
The Hartford The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., usually known as The Hartford, is a United States-based investment and insurance company. The Hartford is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in its namesake city of Hartford, Connecticut. It was ranke ...
was the first major corporation to move into the neighborhood, followed by the Rossia Insurance Company (now Northeastern Insurance Company) and
Aetna Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...
. To make room for corporate headquarters, employee parking and housing, blocks of single family homes were gradually replaced by apartment buildings with small one-bedroom and efficiency apartments. Aetna remains as a major fixture along Farmington Avenue and recently moved more than 3,400 of their Middletown employees to its Hartford campus. With many dating from the 19th-century residential period, a number of significant religious institutions are located in the neighborhood, including the Asylum Hill Congregational Church (1864) (where Mark Twain's good friend
Joseph Twichell Reverend Joseph Hopkins Twichell (November 30, 1838 – December 20, 1918) was a writer and Congregational minister from Hartford, Connecticut. He was a close friend of writer Mark Twain for over forty years and is believed to be the model for th ...
was minister for nearly 50 years) and the Trinity Episcopal Church (1890s). The
modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
Cathedral of St. Joseph, was constructed in the mid-20th century and dedicated in 1962. Asylum Hill also was home to many educational institutions. The original
Hartford Public High School Hartford Public High School, in Hartford, Connecticut, was founded in 1638. It is the second-oldest public secondary school in the United States, after the Boston Latin School. It is part of the Hartford Public Schools district. Notable alumn ...
was designed by architect George Keller. It was demolished in 1963 to make way for construction of Interstate 84. Saint Francis Hospital was established in 1897 by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Chambéry. The 617-bed acute care hospital is located on Woodland Street and is the largest Catholic hospital in
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
. In March 2006, the Connecticut Culinary Institute, which was recently renamed the Lincoln Culinary Institute, opened a branch in the former Hastings Hotel and Conference Center next to the world headquarters of
Aetna Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...
. The Hastings was primarily a business hotel; President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
stayed here when he visited the city while he was in office. The hotel closed abruptly in 2003, but reopened as the Lincoln Education Center. In late 2016, the Lincoln Culinary Institute announced that it was closing.


West End

The West End neighborhood, which runs from the Park River, just past the
Mark Twain House The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, was the home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) and his family from 1874 to 1891. It was designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter and built in the American High Gothic style. Clemens b ...
to the
West Hartford West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquially known as "West Hartford Center," or simply "The C ...
border, was mostly farmland until 1870. During the 1900s–1920s many two and three story homes were built, lending a residential, Victorian air to the neighborhood which persists to this day. Elizabeth Parkbr>
in the West End was created in 1895, when Charles N. Pond gave his estate to the Hartford Parks Commission which created the park and named it in honor of his wife. The park boasts a playground, softball field, and other recreational facilities in addition to views of the downtown skyline. It features the oldest, and one of the largest, municipal rose gardens in the United States. Elizabeth Park's famous rose arches were designed by noted rosarian
Theodore Wirth Theodore Wirth (1863–1949) was instrumental in designing the Minneapolis system of parks. Swiss-born, he was widely regarded as the dean of the local parks movement in America. The various titles he was given included administrator of p ...
in 1904. The
University of Connecticut School of Law The University of Connecticut School of Law (UConn Law) is the law school associated with the University of Connecticut and located in Hartford, Connecticut. It is the only public law school in Connecticut and one of only four in New England. In ...
,
Watkinson School Watkinson School is a private co-educational independent day school in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Watkinson is situated on Bloomfield Avenue adjacent to the University of Hartford. It serves students from 6th through 12th grade. Watk ...
and the
Hartford Seminary The Hartford International University for Religion and Peace (formerly Hartford Seminary) is a private theological university in Hartford, Connecticut. History Hartford Seminary's origins date back to 1833 when the Pastoral Union of Connecti ...
are located in the West End. Prospect Avenue boasts belle epoque and jazz age mansions, including the Governor's Mansion. Grand estates also line Scarborough Street, including the former residence of A. Everett 'Chick' Austin (Director of
Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School lands ...
from 1927 to 1944). The southern West End and Parkville also constitute a local
gay village A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establish ...
, with many notable residents — including former Mayor
Pedro Segarra Pedro E. Segarra (born April 28, 1959) is a Puerto Rican-American politician and lawyer who served as the 66th mayor of Hartford, Connecticut. Prior to becoming mayor, Segarra was president of Hartford's City Council. He succeeded former Mayor ...
, the second openly gay mayor of a US state’s capital city.


Sheldon/Charter Oak

The neighborhood is located just south of
Downtown Hartford Downtown Hartford, Connecticut is the primary business district and the center of Connecticut's state government. Due to the large number of insurance companies headquartered downtown, Hartford is known as the "Insurance Capital of the World". B ...
and Charter Oak Avenue, between Wethersfield Avenue and the
Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...
. In the neighborhood, the now-buried Park River connects to the Connecticut River via an underground conduit. In 1633, the Dutch chartered a trading post on the south bank of the river in the present-day Sheldon/Charter Oak, then known as the Little River, to contrast it with the Connecticut, the Great River. The area became known as Dutch Point, and the name of the Dutch fort, "House of Hope," is reflected in the name of Huyshope Avenue. It was here that, in 1636, the first English colonists founded the settlement of Hartford and laid out house lots in the South Plantation. The area was the site of The
Charter Oak The Charter Oak was an unusually large white oak tree growing on Wyllys Hyll in Hartford, Connecticut in the United States, from around the 12th or 13th century until it fell during a storm in 1856. According to tradition, Connecticut's Roya ...
, an unusually old white oak tree in which, according to legend, colonists hid the Connecticut Royal Charter of 1662 to protect it from confiscation by an English governor-general. Thus the grand, stately tree came to symbolize the power of nature as a defender of freedom throughout Connecticut. In fact, the state adopted the image as the emblem of the Connecticut state quarter. The Charter Oak Monument is located at the corner of Charter Oak Place, a historic street, and Charter Oak Avenue. The greatest influence on the development of Sheldon/Charter Oak and
South Green South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
was
Samuel Colt Samuel Colt (; July 19, 1814 – January 10, 1862) was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company (now Colt's Manufacturing Company) and made the mass production of r ...
, inventor of the
automatic revolver An automatic revolver also known as semi-automatic revolver, is a revolver that uses the recoil energy of firing for cocking the hammer and revolving the cylinder, rather than using manual operations to perform these actions. Despite the misnom ...
, and his wife Elizabeth Colt. Although Colt is often considered the father of the Connecticut River Valley industrial revolution, there were in fact a handful of small outfits already in operation by the time the
Colt Armory The Colt Armory is a historic factory complex for the manufacture of firearms, created by Samuel Colt. It is located in Hartford, Connecticut along the Connecticut River, and as of 2008 is part of the Coltsville Historic District, named a National ...
opened in 1848 in the South Meadows area of Sheldon/Charter Oak. Inspired by what he had seen during a trip to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1851, Colt embarked upon one of the boldest real estate development campaigns in Hartford's history. His intention to build an industrial community to house his workers adjacent to the armory. While not the largest, the most prominent or the most tightly controlled of America's 19th century
company towns A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...
, Coltsville was among the country's first – and easily the most advanced of its time. By 1856, it was a city within a city, where workers of many nationalities and religions worked, lived and recreated alongside one another. Colt's complex also included the largest armory in the world, wharf and ferry facilities on the Connecticut River, and a gathering place named Charter Oak Hall for community gathering and leisure. Crowning the hilltop in the northwest corner of the complex was
Armsmear Armsmear ("meadow of arms"), also known as the Samuel Colt Home, is a historic house located at 80 Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut. It was the family home of firearm manufacturer Samuel Colt. Armsmear was listed as a National Histor ...
, an enormous
Italian villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas ...
Colt built for himself and his wife in 1857 that was likely by far the most luxurious structure in Hartford by fair at the time. After a major fire destroyed the original armory in 1864, Colt's widow had the original armory rebuilt including the original structure's most dramatic feature: the blue onion dome with gold starts, topped by a gold orb and a rampant colt, the original symbol of
Colt Manufacturing Company Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC (CMC, formerly Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt and is now a subsidiary of Czech holding company Colt CZ Group. It is the succ ...
. Visible to commuters on I-91, the Colt Armory stands a monument to Hartford's first "celebrity industrialist," and the once mighty empire he created. Following her son's death, Elizabeth Colt commissioned the Church of the Good Shepherd in 1896 as a monument to his life. Built in
High Victorian Gothic High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right. Prom ...
style, architectural features include a variety of gun parts, such as bullet molds, gunsights and cylinders. This unusual characteristic earns the building the title of likely being the only church in the world with a gun motif. When Elizabeth Colt died in 1904, she willed the majority of her estate, Armsmear, to the City of Hartford for use as a public park. Today, the
Colt Park Colt Park is a city park in the southeast Hartford, Connecticut neighborhood of Sheldon/Charter Oak. The park was established from the former Armsmear Estate of Samuel Colt and Elizabeth Jarvis Colt which was gifted to the city upon her death i ...
services the community with a number of athletic fields, playgrounds, a swimming pool, playground, skating rink and
Dillon Stadium Trinity Health Stadium (formerly Dillon Stadium) is a multipurpose facility in Hartford, Connecticut. It has been host to concerts and sporting events. It was formerly the home of the New England Nightmare of the Women's Football Alliance, Wom ...
. Another Hartford industrialist who made his mark in the neighborhood is George Capewell. In 1881, he invented a machine that efficiently manufactured horseshoe nails, and his success made Hartford the "horseshoe nail capitol" of the world. The
Capewell Horse Nail Company The Capewell Horse Nail Company is a historic brick industrial complex located in the Hartford, Connecticut neighborhood of Neighborhoods of Hartford, Connecticut#Sheldon/Charter Oak, Sheldon/Charter Oak. It was built in 1903 by industrialist Geor ...
factory was built in 1903 at the corner of Charter Oak Avenue and Popieluszko Court. Shuttered by mid-century, it is slated to be turned into apartments. The factory's
Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...
square tower and high pyramid-shaped slate roof is one of the last of its kind in Hartford. Capewell continued to manufacture horsenails and other products at its Bloomfield facility until its closure in 2012. Towards the end of the 19th century, an influx of Polish immigrants occurred. Many worked in Hartford's factories and shops, including Colt and Capewell. The concentration of factories in the neighborhood allowed the Polish immigrants to settle along Sheldon, Governor, Woodbridge and Union streets. A second influx of Polish to the area during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
grew the community. In 1913, the
Polish National Alliance The Polish National Alliance ( pol. ''Związek Narodowy Polski'', PNA) is the largest and one of the oldest Polish fraternal organizations in the United States. The original goal was to mobilize support among Polish Americans for the liberatio ...
was formed to assist both newcomers and established residents and, in 1915, a new Saints Cyril and Methodius church was built on Governor Street to accommodate the ever-expanding congregation. The Polish National Home is a cultural and social organization that was created more than 80 years ago to serve the Polish-American community in Hartford. The 1930
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
building on Charter Oak Avenue contains a full-service restaurant, banquet hall and meeting rooms.


Upper Albany

Hartford's Upper Albany neighborhood is a large residential area extending on either side of Albany Avenue, one of the city's major traffic arteries, which runs through the center of the Upper Albany Historic District in a northwest-southeast direction and connects the area to downtown Hartford. Upper Albany is characterized almost exclusively by large, two-family frame houses built in the first two decades of the 20th century, when the area was developed as middle-class housing in the Queen Anne and
Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...
styles. Prior to the 1890s the land which is included in the Upper Albany Historic District was occupied by family farms or by large estates associated with some of Hartford's leading families; it was mostly open. In 1871, the construction of the Connecticut Western Railroad (south of Homestead Avenue) attracted some industry to the area, but for the most part the land remained undeveloped. Albany Avenue had been a major thoroughfare since it was established as a turnpike at the beginning of the 19th century, but there were few houses along it. Most of the land along Albany Avenue was owned by railroad and insurance entrepreneur James Goodwin, with additional acreage held by
James G. Batterson James Goodwin Batterson (February 23, 1823 – September 18, 1901) was an American designer and builder, the owner of New England Granite Works from 1845 and a founder in 1863 of Travelers Insurance Company, both in Hartford, Connecticut. He ...
, a quarry owner and president of the
Travelers Insurance Company The Travelers Companies, Inc., commonly known as Travelers, is an American insurance company. It is the second-largest writer of U.S. commercial property casualty insurance, and the sixth-largest writer of U.S. personal insurance through indepen ...
. The Goodwin and Batterson estates were the major features of the area in the 19th century. Just prior to 1900, the extension of Hartford's electric streetcar system up Albany Avenue enhanced the area's residential possibility. Real estate development companies quickly capitalized purchasing the acreage, laying out new streets, platting out house lots, and constructing most of the houses which now stand in the district. Hartford's oldest surviving school building is the North-West School. Built in 1891 as an addition to another school, and with other subsequent additions enlarging the facility, the school functioned until 1978 and is a well-preserved example of a late 19th-century school building, considered state of the art at the time of its construction. All but the current building were demolished. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The character of Albany Avenue changed rapidly after World War I. It became largely commercial, with some older homes torn down to make way for businesses, and retail store fronts added to other residences. By 1920, most of the property owners in the area were Irish or Jewish because of the close-knit communities that had developed. Part of the attraction to the neighborhood was the proximity to Keney Park. The southernmost entrance is located on Greenfield Street. By the end of the 1920s the district was a multi-ethnic area with distinct Jewish, Irish, and Italian elements. During and following World War II, the number of Black families living in Hartford increased dramatically, more than tripling as a percentage of the city's population between 1940 and 1960. Upper Albany continued to reflect the ethnic make-up of Hartford, as Black families bought homes in the neighborhood. Today, the neighborhood is composed of predominantly African-American, Puerto Rican and West Indian residents. One of the poorest neighborhoods in Hartford, it has a strong presence of community groups that are working towards revitalization through economic development. It is home to Artist Collective and new
University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and it ...
Performing Arts Center Image:NorthHartfordPolice.jpg, North End Police Headquarters Image:NorthEnd 2.jpg, North End Decay Image:North end isnt bad 3.JPG, Abandoned house on Albany Avenue, North End Image:North_end_isnt_bad_14.JPG, Belden Street revitalization Image:North end isnt bad 4.JPG, Bellevue Street revitalization


Clay-Arsenal

Clay Arsenal is one of Hartford's oldest neighborhoods, developed in the middle and late 19th century. It was mainly farmland prior to 1847, when the
Hartford and Springfield Railroad The Hartford and New Haven Railroad (H&NH), chartered in 1833, was the first railroad built in the state of Connecticut and an important direct predecessor of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The company was formed to connect the ...
, which now forms the neighborhood's eastern border, was constructed. The section west of Main Street lies on a gentle rise above Downtown and is known as Clay Hill, so named for the type of soil there. The area east of Main Street has been known since 1812 as the Arsenal District, when a State Arsenal was constructed on the corner of North Main and Pavilion streets. The Arsenal was demolished in 1909. The mid-19th century development of the Clay Hill area from rural to urban conditions was caused by the strong industrial growth of the city. As the city's factories rapidly grew more successful, the community at large was forced to keep up. The changes took the form of converting the farmland of long time residents to city streets for new homeowners. Multi-family dwellings were the dominant development in the late 19th century as the neighborhood became home to Irish and Jewish working-class families. The Irish had been emigrating to Hartford through a recruitment effort for work on the
Enfield Falls Canal Enfield Falls Canal (commonly known as the Windsor Locks Canal) is a canal that was built to circumvent the shallows at Enfield Falls (or Enfield Rapids) on the Connecticut River, between Hartford, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts. It is ...
in
Windsor Locks Windsor Locks is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 12,613. It is the site of Bradley International Airport, which serves the Greater Hartford-Springfield region and occupies approxim ...
. Although he area has been primarily residential, in the post-Civil War era, the railroad attracted businesses, including a lumber yard, brewery and carriage works. Additionally, the Hartford County Jail was built in 1873 on Seyms Street. Designed by Hartford architect George Keller, it embodied the High Victorian Gothic style. The structure was demolished in 1978. In 1895, Clay Hill was predominantly Irish. At about the same time, large numbers of Jews began arriving from Eastern Europe. The African-American community grew significantly during World War I when large numbers of southern blacks began to arrive. After World War II, the area began to see a growing number of Puerto Rican and West Indian families as well.


South End and Little Italy

Maple Avenue, Wethersfield Avenue and Franklin Avenue are the three major roads in the South End, adjacent to the Hartford- Wethersfield town line in the southern part of the city. Franklin Avenue is known as the city's
Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...
. Although many Italians have moved just over the border to Wethersfield, Newington, and Rocky Hill, there is still a major Italian presence in that portion of the city. Eric Mangini, the former Head Coach of the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns grew up on Franklin Avenue. There are numerous Italian bakeries and merchants along Franklin Avenue. In the past few decades, there has been migration out of the South End, with many Puerto Rican families moving into the neighborhood but nevertheless there are many local favorites (restaurants, bakeries and stores) that draw people back into the South End. The area's Italian population came out in full force when Italy won the
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
World Cup in 2006 with thousands marching and driving down Franklin Avenue for hours with Italian flags raised high. In recent years many eastern European ethnic groups have moved into South End neighborhoods, predominantly
Bosnians Bosnians (Bosnian language: / ; / , / ) are people identified with the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina or with the region of Bosnia. As a common demonym, the term ''Bosnians'' refers to all inhabitants/citizens of the country, regardless ...
,
Albanians The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
and other ethnic groups from the former Republic of Yugoslavia. The Hartford portion of Goodwin Park (85 acres of which are in the town of Wethersfield) is in the South End.


South Green

The green was originally laid out as a common pasture in the 17th century and remained so well into the 19th century. The South Green Historic District encompasses a predominantly 19th-century residential area. This area features a variety of residences in both high and common styles, from the elaborate home of armsmaker
Samuel Colt Samuel Colt (; July 19, 1814 – January 10, 1862) was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company (now Colt's Manufacturing Company) and made the mass production of r ...
to multi-unit apartment houses, many of which were built between about 1860 and 1900. The district is roughly triangular, extending from South Green along Main Street and Wethersfield Avenue to include Morris, Dean, and Alden Streets. South Green is home to Barnard Park in honor of
Henry Barnard Henry Barnard (January 24, 1811 – July 5, 1900) was an American educationalist and reformer. Biography He was born in Hartford, Connecticut on January 24, 1811 and attended Wilbraham & Monson Academy. He graduated from Yale University in 18 ...
, located on Main Street.
Hartford Hospital Hartford Hospital is an 938-bed acute care teaching hospital located in the South End of Hartford, Connecticut. Hartford Hospital was established in 1854. The hospital campus is located on Seymour Street in Hartford and is directly adjacent to the ...
, the largest hospital in the area, and the adjacent
Connecticut Children's Medical Center Connecticut Children's Medical Center is a nationally ranked, independent, non-profit, pediatric acute care hospital located in Hartford, Connecticut. The hospital has 185 beds and is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of the University of Co ...
, which is the only hospital primarily for children, are also located in South Green. Image:Morris Street,Hartford.jpg, Biltmore Commons condominiums File:Maple Avenue Mews (Hartford, CT).jpg, The Maple Avenue Mews condominiums File:122 Washington Street, Hartford, Connecticut.jpg, Art Deco building at 122 Washington Street


Barry Square

South of the South Green neighborhood is Barry Square, named for Father Michael Barry, Roman Catholic priest of St. Augustine's Church on Campfield Avenue, built in 1902. Many early parishioners at St. Augustine's were Irish who came to Hartford as laborers, the greatest number having come from
County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...
. This is Hartford's original Irish neighborhood. Historically, the central part of the neighborhood served as a military campground in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, due to the open fields west of Campfield Avenue. In fact, this how the street acquired its name—the camp field stretched south and east from the site of the existing Campfield branch of the Hartford Public Library. The
Collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...
architecture of
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
Trinity College's campus dominates the northeast corner of the neighborhood, on land that was formerly known as "Gallows Hill" due to the number of hangings there. Although originally located in downtown Hartford where the
Connecticut State Capitol The Connecticut State Capitol is located north of Capitol Avenue and south of Bushnell Park in Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. The building houses the Connecticut General Assembly; the upper house, the State Senate, and lower house, the Hous ...
building when founded in 1823, Trinity moved to its current site in 1872 after it purchased the land from the city of Hartford. The Old South Burying Ground on Maple Avenue was established when the first burying ground in Hartford became filled. It is city's second oldest cemetery, dating to 1770. Originally called the Hartford Retreat for the Insane,
The Institute of Living The Institute of Living is a comprehensive psychiatric facility in Hartford, Connecticut, that offers care across the spectrum of psychiatric services, including: * A 24/7 crisis evaluation telephone assessment and triage: Experienced psychiatri ...
was founded in 1822. One of the oldest psychiatric treatment facilities in the country, landscape architect
Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...
, laid out the grounds as a park-like campus of 35 acres (14 ha). Today, it is part of
Hartford Hospital Hartford Hospital is an 938-bed acute care teaching hospital located in the South End of Hartford, Connecticut. Hartford Hospital was established in 1854. The hospital campus is located on Seymour Street in Hartford and is directly adjacent to the ...
and serves as a patient care, research and education facility in the fields of behavioral, psychiatric and addiction disorders.
Engine Company 15 Fire Station The Engine Company 15 Fire Station is located at 8 Fairfield Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut. It was built in 1909, and is one of two surviving firehouses in the city which was built to stable horses. It was listed on the ...
of the
Hartford Fire Department Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
has been in its Fairfield Avenue location since it opened in 1909. It is now the oldest extant firehouse in Hartford, and one of two surviving firehouses in the city which was built to stable horses.


South Meadows

Located at the southeastern corner of the city, the area the South Meadows is an industrial and commercial area adjacent to the
Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...
and transected by
Interstate 91 Interstate 91 (I-91) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of the region. The Interstate generally follows the course of the Connecti ...
, Route 5 and
Connecticut Route 15 Route 15 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut that runs from a connection with New York's Hutchinson River Parkway in Greenwich, Connecticut, to its northern terminus intersecting with Interstate 84 (I-84) in East Ha ...
. The area is home to
Hartford–Brainard Airport Hartford–Brainard Airport is a towered public airport three miles (5 km) southeast of downtown Hartford, in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is owned by the Connecticut Airport Authority. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National ...
. Located in a former cow pasture, Brainard Airfield is said to the first municipal airport in the country. Brainard Field, named after Hartford Mayor Newton C. Brainard, was dedicated on June 12, 1921. In 1927, 25,000 gathered there to greet Charles Lindbergh after his return from an historic flight to Paris. Brainard was the principal airport for the Greater Hartford region until
Bradley International Airport Bradley International Airport is a public international airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, United States. Owned and operated by the Connecticut Airport Authority, it is the second-largest airport in New England. The airport is about halfw ...
opened in 1952. Today categorized it as a regional reliever airport facility, Brainard serves small aircraft, providing charter service and flight instruction. Today, the airport serves small aircraft, providing charter service and flight instruction. In addition, the Connecticut Aero Tech School is now located at Brainard. Offering training programs in aviation maintenance technology fields, the school is part of the
Connecticut Technical High School System The state of Connecticut funds and operates the Connecticut Technical High School System (CTHSS), also known as the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System (CTECS). It is a statewide system of 17 diploma-granting technical high schoo ...
under the
Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
. B The Hartford Regional Market has been in operation since 1951 and is the largest perishable-food distribution terminal between New York and Boston, with a 32-acre (13 ha) facility and 185,000 square feet (56,388 square meters) of warehouse space. The
Hartford Electric Light Company The Hartford Electric Light Company (HELCO) is a defunct electrical company that was located on Pearl Street in Hartford, Connecticut. It was merged with the Connecticut Power Company in 1958 and later these became Connecticut Light & Power. Its ...
power plant, which started in 1921, is still operational and owned by
Eversource Energy Eversource Energy is a publicly traded, Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity, natural gas service and water service to ap ...
. The Metropolitan District Water Pollution Control Plant has been in operation since 1938; it is the largest of its kind in the state. Wastewater from greater Hartford communities is treated at the rate of an average of 100 million gallons daily. The Mid-Connecticut Resource Recovery Facility opened in 1987 and is on 57 acres (23 ha). Tucked into a corner of the neighborhood, away from public view, the South Meadows Pumping Station quietly does its work of flood control and prevention. It is part of the Metropolitan District Commission and a sister station of the Bushnell Park pumping station. Due to the large area required by the airport, industrial facilities and the dike that runs along the riverbank, access to the river in South Meadows is extremely limited.


Southwest

South West is a predominantly residential neighborhood at the southwestern corner of the city, adjoining the towns of Wethersfield, Newington and West Hartford. Cedar Hill Cemetery, which was designed by landscape architect
Jacob Weidenmann Jacob Weidenmann (August 22, 1829 – February 6, 1893) was an landscape architect from Switzerland known for his design of rural cemeteries and public parks. Biography Weidenmann was born in Winterthur, Switzerland on August 22, 1829. He was ...
is located in Southwest. The eastern boundary of the neighborhood is Fairfield Avenue, which runs along a natural ridge of land that is 159 feet above the Connecticut River and was once promoted as the "highest elevation in Hartford." The road was considered to be the main thoroughfare to Wethersfield and attracted leisure drivers with its sweeping vistas eastward and westward. In 1874 the Hartford Courant reported, " airfield Avenuecommands from almost every rod of its entire distance a view of the Connecticut valley on the east and the fine stretch of country lying on the west—a most sightly and beautiful landscape in either direction. It will make altogether the longest direct drive with unobstructed outlooks, and the most attractive too, that we have in Hartford, and that is saying a good deal...." While there are houses on Fairfield Avenue that date from the nineteenth century, the majority of the single and multi-family houses in the South West neighborhood were built between the 1940s–1960s. Recognizable patterns of American vernacular architecture predominate in the South West, including small colonial revival and cape cop designs, and there is a large degree of variability in house and lot size. The most notable landmarks in the neighborhood are the beautiful Hyland Park and Cedar Hill Cemetery. Hyland Park, an old stone quarry site, was acquired by the City of Hartford in 1907 and, with its neighbor Rocky Ridge Park, was opened in 1911. Cedar Hill Cemetery is an exemplary landscape-park style open space. Laid out by landscape architects Jacob Weidenmann and Fredrick Law Olmsted, the chapel, gatehouse and several monuments were designed by George Keller. Several notables are buried at Cedar Hill, among them J.P. Morgan, Samuel Colt, the Galludets, and poet Wallace Stevens. Forster Heights Playground and Park, in the most southern portion of the neighborhood, also borders Cedar Hill Cemetery.


Behind the Rocks

Behind the Rocks is a predominantly residential neighborhood at the southwestern corner of Hartford below Parkville, bordering the town of
West Hartford West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquially known as "West Hartford Center," or simply "The C ...
. It was named from the rocky outcropping that serves as the western border of the
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
campus. In the 1890s, the Rocky Hill Quarry, located on what is now called Rocky Ridge, produced trap rock which was used primarily for road building. Much of the heavy labor was performed by Irish immigrants. In 1876, the first St. Lawrence O'Toole Church was constructed to meet community needs. At the turn of the 20th century, trolley lines along Zion Street and New Britain Avenue opened up the neighborhood for residential development. By 1912, the Rocky Hill Quarry had become a park, that is today known as the Thomas Hyland Memorial Park. The park provides a playground and sports fields for area families. As the area became built up, blasting from the quarry became an issue with residents as well as with Trinity College. George Fairfield, park commissioner and civic leader, was very vocal, having had his home on Fairfield Avenue damaged by the concussions of blasting. In the early 1900s, the quarry was turned over to the City to be turned into a park. Today, there are ball fields and a playground to serve the neighborhood. In 1920 a housing boom occurred on land between Zion Street and Hillside Avenue to accommodate workers in local factories. Ninety homes were built in a matter of seven months, some of which were of the Elizabethan style of architecture, some of which can still be seen. In the 1940s, the city's fourth public housing project was built. Originally designed as low-income house, it was used to house for defense workers and their families as the country prepared for World War II. The project was named Charter Oak Terrace through a contest, the winner of which was awarded $15. The 1000-unit project was bounded by Flatbush Avenue, Newfield Street, Chandler Street and the south branch of the Park River. When the units were no longer needed to house defense workers, they became low-rent housing. The following decades saw the decline of the community as it became plagued with crime and drugs. It was demolished in the mid-1990s and in its place, a shopping center and new housing was built. Along a segment of Brookfield Street, the Park River Greenway trail was created in 2008 as a recreational and environmental amenity that would ultimately hook into the
East Coast Greenway The East Coast Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. In 2020, the Greenway received over 50 million visits. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991. ...
, a planned pedestrian/bicycle corridor, from Maine to Florida. For now, the area is a stopover point for migrating birds as well as home to wildlife, including turkeys and foxes. Behind the Rocks is also home to Breakthrough Magnet School, A.I. Prince Technical High School, the Job Corps Academy and the Hartford Housing Authority headquarters.


North Meadows

Located just north of downtown along the CT River and I-91 the North Meadows is a commercial, industrial and recreational area that is home to many of the area's car dealerships. Once undeveloped farmland, where military encampments were held and wintertime brought skating on the Connecticut River, the North Meadows underwent tremendous change in the late 20th century. With large parcels of land and convenient access to
Interstate 91 Interstate 91 (I-91) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of the region. The Interstate generally follows the course of the Connecti ...
and downtown Hartford, it developed into an industrial, commercial and recreational area and is home to several auto dealerships, the headquarters of
Connecticut Transit CTtransit (styled as CT ''transit'') is a bus system serving much of the U.S. state of Connecticut and is a division of that state's Connecticut Department of Transportation, Department of Transportation. CTtransit provides bus service vi ...
, the city's Bulky Waste & Recycling Center, the main branch of the U.S. Post Office, a correctional facility, municipal offices, as well as a live music venue and Riverside Park. The dike that prevents the Connecticut River from causing the kind of damage it once did can be seen on the way to Riverside Park. Included in the park are a high ropes challenge course, a playground, boat launch, and the Riverfront Recapture boathouse, home to numerous private clubs and the crew teams for numerous regional schools, including
Watkinson School Watkinson School is a private co-educational independent day school in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Watkinson is situated on Bloomfield Avenue adjacent to the University of Hartford. It serves students from 6th through 12th grade. Watk ...
,
East Hartford East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aerospac ...
and
Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
public schools. After heavy rains or snow melt, parts of the park are underwater and it is then that the dike can be appreciated. A landfill sited here operated from 1940 until December 31, 2008 when it was closed and a long-term environmental control system put into place. In 2011, the
Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority The Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority, formerly the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (1973-2014), is a quasi-public agency that provides single-stream recycling and trash disposal for Connecticut cities and towns. It owns a tr ...
embarked upon a project to install solar 4,000 collectors at the site, allowing for a six-acre solar field. It is also the home of Xfinity Theatre, an outdoor/indoor amphitheater. Also in the North Meadows are some of Hartford's "adult" attractions: Multiple shops specializing in pornography and other sexual novelties and a strip club are visible from I-91 north of the I-84 interchange.


Blue Hills

Primarily a residential neighborhood, Blue Hills is located in the city's northwest section, and borders the suburbs of Bloomfield and West Hartford. The neighborhood is bordered by Albany Avenue on the south, Keney Park on the east, City Line to the north and the North Branch of the Park River (Hog River) to the West. It is home to approximately 10,000 residents, and is home to several schools and the University of Hartford. Other well-known institutions include Mount Sinai Hospital and Oak Hill Academy, the latter being a century-old establishment serving people with disabilities. The neighborhood boasts a wide variety of housing styles, varying from large, historic Tudors and colonials along Bloomfield Avenue and Ridgefield Street, to duplexes and modest capes and colonials. Although Blue Hills contains housing projects, it is mostly a working-class, African-American and Caribbean-American enclave. Its main thoroughfares include Granby Street, Blue Hills Avenue (
Route 187 The following highways are numbered 187: Japan * Japan National Route 187 United States * U.S. Route 187 (former) * Alabama State Route 187 * Arizona State Route 187 * Arkansas Highway 187 * California State Route 187 * Colorado State Highwa ...
), Plainfield Street, Bloomfield Avenue ( Route 189) and Albany Avenue ( Route 44). Connecticut Transit operates several bus routes through the neighborhood, such as the 50, 52 and 54, which run on Blue Hills Avenue, the 56 and 58, which run up on Albany Avenue and Bloomfield Avenue, the 74, which runs through Westbrook Village on its way to Copaco Shopping Center via Granby Street, and the 76, which runs on Cornwall Street towards Bowles Park. Blue Hills Avenue serves as both a main artery and a light commercial district, and is home to the two fire stations serving the area.


Northeast

The Northeast neighborhood (sometimes known as North End) is the portion of Hartford east of the Blue Hills neighborhood and west of Interstate 91. It is home to the 1944 Hartford Circus Fire Memorial, Keney Park, which is the largest municipal park in New England and Weaver High School, which was also the alma mater of ''ER'' actor
Eriq La Salle Erik Ki La Salle (born July 23, 1962), professionally known as Eriq La Salle, is an American actor, director, writer and producer. La Salle is best known for his performance in the film ''Coming to America'' (1988) and especially as Dr. Peter ...
, ''
All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series '' Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...
'' producer
Norman Lear Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American producer and screenwriter, who has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear is known for many popular 1970s sitcoms, including the multi-award winning ''All in the Famil ...
and (actress/comedian)
Totie Fields Totie Fields (born Sophie Feldman; May 7, 1930 – August 2, 1978) was an American comedian. Early life Fields was born Sophie Feldman in Hartford, Connecticut. She started singing in Boston clubs while still in high school, taking the stage na ...
.


References

{{Hartford, Connecticut


External links


Hartford Neighborhood Data
Hartford Public Library website

(maps, photos, and descriptions) * http://hartford.omaxfield.com/neighborhoods.html Geography of Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...