Hartford

Hartford is the capital of Connecticut and the historic seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775,[1] making it Connecticut's fourth-largest city after the coastal cities of Bridgeport, New Haven, and Stamford.

Nicknamed the "Insurance Capital of the World", Hartford houses many insurance company headquarters, and insurance remains the region's major industry.[2] Founded in 1637, Hartford is among the oldest cities in the United States. Hartford is home to the nation's oldest public art museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum; the oldest public park, Bushnell Park; the oldest continuously published newspaper, The Hartford Courant; the second-oldest secondary school, Hartford Public; Trinity College, an elite, private liberal arts college, and the Mark Twain House where the author wrote his most famous works and raised his family, among other historically significant attractions. In 1868, resident Mark Twain wrote, "Of all the beautiful towns it has been my fortune to see this is the chief."[3]

Following the American Civil War, Hartford was the richest city in the United States for several decades.[4] Today, Hartford is one of the poorest cities in the nation with 3 out of every 10 families living below the poverty line.[5] In sharp contrast, the Hartford metropolitan area is ranked 32nd of 318 metropolitan areas in total economic production[6] and 7th out of 280 metropolitan statistical areas in per capita income. Highlighting the socio-economic disparity between Hartford and its suburbs, 83% of Hartford's jobs are filled by commuters from neighboring towns who earn over $100,000, while 75% of Hartford residents who commute to work in other towns earn just $40,000.[7] .

History
Various tribes, all part of the loose Algonquin confederation, lived in or around present-day Hartford. The area was referred to as Suckiaug', meaning "Black Fertile River-Enhanced Earth, good for planting." These included the Podunks, mostly east of the Connecticut River; the Poquonocks, north and west of Hartford; the Massacoes, in the Simsbury area; the Tunxis tribe, in West Hartford and Farmington; the Wangunks, to the south; and the Saukiog in Hartford itself.[8]

Colonial Hartford

The first Europeans known to have explored the area were the Dutch, under Adriaen Block, who sailed up the Connecticut in 1614. Dutch fur traders from New Amsterdam returned in 1623 with a mission to establish a trading post and fortify the area for the Dutch West India Company. The original site was located on the south bank of the Park River in the present-day Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhood. This fort was called Fort Hoop, or the “House of Hope.” In 1633, Jacob Van Curler formally bought the land around Fort Hoop from the Pequot chief for a small sum. It was home to perhaps a couple families and a few dozen soldiers. The area today is known as Dutch Point, and the name of the Dutch fort, "House of Hope," is reflected in the name of Huyshope Avenue.[9] The fort was abandoned by 1654, but its neighborhood in Hartford is still known as Dutch Point.[10] The Dutch outpost, and the of the tiny contingent of Dutch soldiers that were stationed there, did little to check the English migration. The Dutch soon realized they very vastly outnumbered. The House of Hope remained an outpost, but it was steadily swallowed up by waves of English settlers. In 1650, when Peter Stuyvesant met with English representatives to negotiate a "permanent" boundary between the Dutch and English colonies, the line they agreed on was more than 50 miles (80 km) west of the original settlement.

The English began to arrive 1637, settling upstream from Fort Hoop near the present-day Downtown and Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhoods.[11] Pastor Thomas Hooker and Governor John Haynes led 100 settlers with 130 head of cattle in a trek from Newtown (now Cambridge, Massachusetts) in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and started their settlement just north of the Dutch fort.[12] The settlement was originally called Newtown, but was changed to Hartford in 1637 to honor the English town of Hertford the explorer also created the town of Windsor (in 1633).[13]

The fledgling colony along the Connecticut River had issues with the authority by which it was to be governed because it was outside of the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's charter. Therefore, Hooker delivered a sermon that 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 such authority to a higher power. Historians suggest that Hooker's conception of self-rule embodied in the Fundamental Orders went on to inspire the Connecticut Constitution, and ultimately the U.S. Constitution. Today, one of Connecticut's nicknames is the "Constitution State."[14]

The original settlement area contained the site of The Charter Oak. The Charter Oak was an unusually old white oak tree in which, according to legend, colonists hid the Connecticut's 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.[15]

19th century

Throughout the 19th century, Hartford’s residential population, economic productivity, cultural influence, and concentration of political power continued to grow. The advance of the Industrial Revolution in Hartford in the mid-1800s made this city by late century one of the wealthiest per capita in United States.[16]

Industrialization and the Colt Legacy Colt's Armory from an 1857 engraving viewed from the East Perhaps the greatest influence on Hartford's development in the 100 years after independence was Samuel Colt, an industrialist and inventor, 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 Colt purchased a large tract of land in the area in the 1840s. In 1836, the Connecticut-born gun manufacturer received a U.S. patent for a revolver mechanism that enabled a gun to be fired multiple times without reloading. Sales were initially slow and Colt's business ventures struggled. Then in 1846, with the Mexican-American War under way, the U.S. government ordered 1,000 Colt revolvers. In 1848, Colt was able to start again with a new business of his own, and 1855, he converted it into a corporation under the name of Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company. Settled just south of downtown Hartford the original factory is situated modern-day Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhood.[17]

With business booming, Colt entered an aggressive and expansionary phase and by 1855, Colt opened what was the world’s largest private armament factory, the Colt Armory, in which he employed advanced manufacturing techniques such as interchangeable parts and an organized production line. By 1856, the company could produce 150 weapons per day. The Civil War led to a surge in demand, and Colt supplied the Union Army. Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company operated at full capacity and employed over 1,000 people in its Hartford factory. By that time, Colt had become one of the wealthiest men in America was presiding over his enterprise from Armsmear, an ornate Italianate manor built near the armory in 1857. Upon his death in 1862, Colt was worth over $15 million ($380 million by 2015 standards).[18]

Colt's methods were at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution, and his successes secured Hartford's place as a major 19th century manufacturing center. It is estimated that in its first 25 years of manufacturing, Colt's company produced over 400,000 revolvers. His use of interchangeable parts helped him become one of the first to exploit the assembly line.[19] Moreover, his innovative use of art, celebrity endorsements and corporate gifts to promote his wares made him a pioneer in the fields of advertising, product placement and mass marketing. His business practices were also innovative, involving not just a shrewd use of patents to protect his products, but also new developments in marketing and business organization to create a highly successful business which long outlived him.

Elizabeth Colt inherited a controlling interest in her late husband's manufacturing company following his death in 1862. At the time, Colt firearms were producing an estimated 1/996th of the entire gross national product of the United States. Despite living in an age where she couldn’t vote, Elizabeth steered the company until 1901 (with her brother Richard Jarvis as president), becoming one of the most prominent female industrialists in America. Together the two transitioned the company from the end of the American Civil War through the early 20th century seeing the evolution from percussion revolvers to cartridge revolvers to semiautomatic pistols and machineguns.[20]

In addition, the Colts left an indelible imprint on Hartford's built environment. Inspired by what he had seen during a trip to London 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 Colt Armory. By 1856, it was a city within a city, where workers of many nationalities and religions worked, lived and recreated alongside one another. While not the largest, the most prominent or the most tightly controlled of America's 19th century company towns, Coltsville was among the country's first, and easily the most advanced of its time. Colt's complex also included the largest armory in the world, wharf and ferry facilities on the Connecticut River.[21]

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. 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.[22]

Church of the Good Shepherd Hartford CT Elizabeth Colt dedicated her final decades to philanthropy and public works. Following her son's death, she commissioned the Church of the Good Shepherd in 1896 as a monument to his life. Built in High Victorian Gothic 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.[23]

With no remaining children, Elizabeth willed her extensive collection of rare art to the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, one of the oldest art galleries in America. The Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Memorial Wing was the first American museum wing to bear the name of a female patron.[24]

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 105 acres (42 ha) Colt Park services the community with a number of athletic fields, playgrounds, a swimming pool, playground, skating rink and Dillon Stadium.[25]

Rise of a Major Manufacturing Center[edit]

Around 1850, Hartford native Samuel Colt perfected the precision manufacturing process that enabled the mass production of thousands of his revolvers with interchangeable parts. Over the next several decades, a variety of industries adopted and adapted these techniques and Hartford became the center of production for a wide array of products—including firearms by Colt, Richard Gatling and John Browning; Weed sewing machines; Royal and Underwood typewriters; Columbia bicycles; and even Pope automobiles.[26]

Just three years after Colt's first factory opened, another weapons manufacturer set up shop in 1852 at a nearby site situated along the now-buried Park River. Located in the present-day neighborhood of Frog Hollow, the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company factory heralded the beginning of the area's transformation from marshy farmland into a major industrial zone. The road leading from town to the factory was called Rifle Lane; the name was later changed to College Street and then Capitol Avenue.[27] A century earlier, mills had located along the Park River because of the water power, but by the 1850s water power was approaching obsolescence. Sharps located there specifically to take advantage of the railroad line that had been constructed alongside the river in 1838.

After the Sharps Rifle Company failed in 1870, the Weed Sewing Machine Company took over its factory. The invention of a new type sewing machine was an evolution of mass production after the principles of interchangeability were applied to clocks and guns. The Weed Company played a major role in making Hartford one of three machine tool centers in New England and even outranked the Colt Armory in nearby Coltsville in size, if not fame.[27] Weed eventually would become the birthplace of both the bicycle and automobile industries in Hartford.

Inspired by a British-made, high-wheel bicycle, or velocipede, he saw at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition industrialist Albert Pope bought patent rights for bicycle production in the United States. Wanting to contract out his first order, however, Pope approached George Fairfield of Hartford of Weed Sewing Machine Company, who produced Pope's first run of bicycles in 1878.[28] 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. 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.[29]

In 1876 Hartford Machine Screw was granted a charter "for the purpose of manufacturing screws, hardware and machinery of every variety." The basis for its incorporation was the epochal invention of the first single-spindle automatic screw machine. For its next four years the new firm occupied one of Weed's buildings, milling thousands of screws daily on over 50 machines. Its president was the same George Fairfield who ran Weed and its superintendent was Christopher Spencer, arguably Connecticut's most versatile inventor. Soon Hartford Machine Screw outgrew its quarters and built a new factory adjacent to Weed, where it would remain until 1948.

Political Turmoil

On December 15, 1814, the Hartford Convention was called to order in Hartford. Delegations from the five New England states, (Maine was still part of Massachusetts at that time) were sent to Hartford to discuss New England's possible secession from the United States.

State Street in 1914 During the early 19th century, the Hartford area was a center of abolitionist activity. The most famous abolitionist family was the Beechers. The Reverend 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, the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, was a noted clergyman who vehemently opposed slavery and supported the temperance movement and women's suffrage. Beecher Stowe's sister, Isabella Beecher Hooker, was a leading member of the women's rights movement.

Bulkeley Bridge, circa 1906-1916 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-19th century campaigning.

20th century

On the week of April 12, 1909, the Connecticut River reached a then-record flood stage of 24½ feet above the low water mark flooding the city and doing great damage.[30]

On 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 and Barnum and Bailey Circus, became known as the Hartford Circus Fire.

Old Post Office and Custom House next to the Old State House (left) in 1903. Completed in 1882, the building was demolished in 1934. After World War II, many residents of Puerto Rico moved to Hartford and even today Puerto Rican flags can be found on cars and buildings all over the city. Former Hartford Mayor Eddie Pérez was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Hartford in 1969, when he was 12 years old.

Starting in the late 1950s, as the suburbs ringing Hartford began to grow and flourish, the capital city began a long decline. Insurance giant Connecticut General (now CIGNA) moved to a new, modern campus in the suburb of Bloomfield. Constitution Plaza, at first hailed as a model of urban renewal, gradually became a concrete office park. Once-flourishing department stores such as Brown Thomson, Sage-Allen, and G. Fox & Co. all shut down as suburban malls such as Westfarms and Buckland Hills grew in popularity.

In 1997, the city lost its professional hockey franchise, the Hartford Whalers, to Raleigh, North Carolina despite an increase in season ticket sales and an offer of a new arena from the state. Currently a developer from Newton, Massachusetts who is also the city's largest property owner is working with the city to bring an NHL team back to Hartford and house them in a new largely publicly funded stadium.[31]

Hartford experienced problems as the population shrank 11 percent during the 1990s. Only Flint, Michigan; Gary, Indiana; Saint Louis and Baltimore experienced larger population losses during the decade. However, the population has increased since the 2000 Census.[32]

In 1987, Carrie Saxon Perry was elected mayor of Hartford, the first female African-American mayor of a major American city.[33]

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.0 square miles (47 km2), of which 17.3 square miles (45 km2) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (3.67%) is water.

Hartford is bordered by the towns of West Hartford, Newington, Wethersfield, East Hartford, Bloomfield, South Windsor, and Windsor.

The Connecticut River forms the boundary between Hartford and East Hartford.

The Park River originally divided Hartford into northern and southern sections and was a major part of Bushnell Park, but the river was nearly completely enclosed and buried by flood control projects in the 1940s.[34] The former course of the river can still be seen in some of the roadways that were built in the river's place, such as Jewell Street and the Conlin-Whitehead Highway.[35]

Climate
Hartford lies in the humid continental climate zone (Köppen Dfa), and is part of USDA Hardiness zone 6b, degrading to 6a in the northern, western, and eastern suburbs away from the Connecticut River valley.

Seasonally, the period from May through October is warm to hot in Hartford, with the hottest months being June, July, and August. In the summer months there is often high humidity and occasional (but brief) thundershowers. The cool to cold months are from November through April, with the coldest months in December, January, and February having average highs in the lower 30's F and overnight lows near 20 F.

The average annual precipitation is approximately 45.9 inches (1,170 mm),[36] which is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. Hartford typically receives about 44.5 inches (113 cm) of snow in an average winter – about 40% more than coastal Connecticut cities like New Haven, Stamford, and New London.[36] seasonal snowfall has ranged from 115.2 inches (293 cm) during the winter of 1995–96 to 13.5 inches (34 cm) in 1999–2000.[37] During the summer, temperatures reach or exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on an average of 17 days per year,[36] though the record number of occurrences was 38 in 1983 and 1920 saw none. Conversely, on average, temperatures do not rise above freezing on 30 days and dip to 0 °F (−18 °C) or below on 4.0 nights per year.[36] Tropical storms and hurricanes have also struck Hartford, although the occurrence of such systems is rare and is usually confined to the remnants of such storms. Hartford saw extensive damage from the 1938 New England Hurricane, as well as with Hurricane Irene in 2011. The highest officially recorded temperature is 103 °F (39 °C) on July 22, 2011 and the lowest is −26 °F (−32 °C) on January 22, 1961; the record cold daily maximum is −1 °F (−18 °C) on December 2, 1917, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum is 80 °F (27 °C) on July 31, 1917.

Demographics
As of the census[43] of 2010, there were 124,775 people, 44,986 households, and 27,171 families residing in the city. The population density was 7,025.5 people per square mile (2,711.8/km²). There were 50,644 housing units at an average density of 2,926.5 per square mile (1,129.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 29.8% white, 38.7% African American or black, 0.6% Native American, 2.8% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 23.9% from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races. 43.4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino, chiefly of Puerto Rican origin.[44] Whites not of Latino background were 15.8% of the population in 2010,[45] down from 63.9% in 1970.[46]

There were 44,986 households, out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.2% were married couples living together, 29.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.6% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.33.

In the city, the population distribution skews young: 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 were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.

With 30 percent of the population living below the poverty line, Hartford's rate of poverty is second in the United States only to Brownsville, Texas.[47]

The median income for a household in the city was $19,820, and the median income for a family was $21,051. Males had a median income of $29,444 versus $24,131 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,428. After World War II, and continuing through the latter half of the 20th century, many Puerto Ricans moved to the city. As of 2010, 33.7% of Hartford residents claimed Puerto Rican heritage. This was the second-largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the Northeast, behind only Holyoke, Massachusetts (source: 2010 census).

Government
Hartford is governed via the strong-mayor form of the mayor-council system. The current mayor is Pedro Segarra. He succeeded former Mayor Eddie Perez in 2010 and was subsequently elected for a full term the next year.[48] Segarra, who was sworn in as mayor on June 25, 2010, is Hartford's second mayor of Puerto Rican ancestry and the first openly gay mayor of the city. He is also the second openly gay mayor of an American state capital city (David Cicilline of neighboring Providence, Rhode Island was the first).[49][50]

More than fifty years after establishing the council-manager form, Hartford voted in favor of restoring a mayor-council system in 2003, restoring municipal authority in an elected mayor in 2003. Mayor Eddie Perez, first elected in 2001, was re-elected with 76% of the vote in 2003. As the first strong mayor elected under the revised charter, he is widely credited with reducing crime, reforming the school system and sparking economic revitalization in the city. However, his reputation was hurt by accusations of corruption[51]

In Connecticut there is no county-level executive or legislative government; the counties determine probate, civil and criminal court boundaries, but little else. Connecticut municipalities (like those of neighboring states Massachusetts and Rhode Island) provide nearly all local services (such as fire and rescue, education, snow removal, etc.), as county government has been abolished since 1960.[52]

Fire Engine Co 1 Fire Station Hartford CT The Hartford Fire Department provides fire protection and first responder emergency medical services to the city of Hartford. Operating out of 12 fire stations located throughout the city, the HFD is the fifth-largest fire department in Connecticut. Under the command of two Deputy Chiefs in two Districts, the HFD maintains a fire apparatus fleet of eleven engines, five ladders, one tac unit (rescue), one fireboat, one rehab unit, one decon Unit, one foam unit, one fire investigation unit, three Maintenance Units, and numerous other spare apparatus. The spare apparatus fleet comprises six spare engines, three spare ladders, one spare tac, and three spare district chief's units.[56][57]

Police

The Hartford Police Department (HPD) was founded in 1860, though the history of law enforcement in Hartford begins in 1636.[58] The current Hartford Police Chief is James Rovella.[59] The department is located at 253 High Street and includes divisions such as Animal Control, Bomb Squad, Detective Bureau, K-9 Unit, Marine Division, Negotiator, Records, S.W.A.T and Vice & Narcotics. To date seven officers have died in the line of duty.[60] The proposed 2010–2011 budget for the police department was $76,110,089, which includes 424 sworn officers.[61]

Ambulance

Hartford outsources ambulance services to private companies, including Aetna Ambulance in the South End and American Medical Response in the North End.[62]

Neighborhoods
Hartford's neighborhoods are diverse and historic. The central business district, as well as the State Capitol, Old State House and a number of museums and shops are located Downtown. Parkville, home to Real Art Ways, is named for the confluence of the north and the south branches of the Park River. Frog Hollow, in close proximity to Downtown, is home to Pope Park and Trinity College, which is one of the nation's oldest institutions of higher learning. Asylum Hill, a mixed residential and commercial area, houses the headquarters of several insurance companies as well as the historic homes of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe. The West End, home to the Governor's residence, Elizabeth Park, and the University of Connecticut School of Law, abuts the Hartford Golf Club. Sheldon Charter Oak is renowned as the location of the Charter Oak and its successor monument as well as the former Colt headquarters including Samuel Colt's family estate – Armsmear. The North East neighborhood is home to Keney Park and a number of the city's oldest and ornate homes. The South End features "Little Italy" and was the home of Hartford's sizeable Italian community. South Green hosts Hartford Hospital. The South Meadows is the site of Hartford-Brainard Airport and Hartford's industrial community. The North Meadows has retail strips, car dealerships, and Comcast Theatre. Blue Hills is home of the University of Hartford and also houses the largest per capita of residents claiming Jamaican-American heritage in the United States. Other neighborhoods in Hartford include Barry Square, Behind the Rocks, Clay Arsenal, South West, and Upper Albany- which is dotted by many Caribbean restaurants and specialty stores.

In 2010, Hartford ranked 19th in the United States' annual national crime rankings, (below the 200.00 rating.)[63] It had the second highest crime rate in Connecticut, behind New Haven. Statistically Hartford's Northern districts (North East, Asylum Hill, Upper Albany) had the highest murder rate, while the South districts (Downtown, Sheldon, South Green) had a slightly lower murder rate, but had the most crime overall. Overall, the South Meadows neighborhood had the lowest crime rate, respectively.[64]

Economy
Hartford is the historic international center of the insurance industry, with companies such as Aetna, Conning & Company, The Hartford, The Phoenix Companies, UnitedHealthcare and Hartford Steam Boiler based in the city, and companies such as Travelers and Lincoln National Corporation having major operations in the city. The city is also home to the corporate headquarters of U.S. Fire Arms and United Technologies.

From the 19th century until the mid-20th century, Hartford was a major manufacturing city. During the Industrial Revolution into the mid-20th century, the Connecticut River Valley cities produced many major precision manufacturing innovations. Among these was Hartford's pioneer bicycle (and later) automobile maker Pope.[65] As in nearly all former Northern manufacturing cities, many factories have been closed, relocated, or reduced operations.

Aetna and the Hartford Financial Services Group, both Fortune 100 companies, are headquartered in Hartford. Travelers Insurance has its largest national employment center and historical headquarters in the city. CIGNA insurance is headquartered in the region with a presence in Hartford and its suburb Bloomfield. United Health Insurance has a significant presence in the city.[66]

At the same time, many companies have moved to or expanded in the central business district and surrounding neighborhoods. Aetna announced mid-decade that by 2010 it would move nearly 3,500 employees from its Middletown, Connecticut offices to its corporate headquarters in the Asylum Hill section of the city. Travelers recently expanded its operations at several downtown locations. In 2008, Sovereign Bank consolidated two bank branches as well as its regional headquarters in a nineteenth-century palazzo on Asylum Street. In 2009, Northeast Utilities, a Fortune 500 company and New England's largest energy utility, announced it would establish its corporate headquarters downtown. In the same year, work began at the southeastern corner of Constitution Plaza on the AI Technology Center, the future headquarters of the eponymous engineering firm. AI's chief executive helped finance the building, the first commercially leasable structure in Connecticut to be certified at the platinum level under the US Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. Other recent entrants into the downtown market include GlobeOp Financial Services and specialty insurance broker S.H. Smith. CareCentrix, a patient home healthcare management company, is moving into downtown from East Hartford, where it will add over 200 jobs within the next few years.[citation needed]

Hartford is a center for medical care, research, and education. Within Hartford itself the city includes Hartford Hospital, The Institute of Living, Connecticut Children's Medical Center, and Saint Francis Hospital & Medical Center (which merged in 1990 with Mount Sinai Hospital).

After rising during the Great Recession to over 9% during 2010, unemployment in Connecticut had fallen by December 2014 to 6.4%, .6% above the national average of 5.8%.[67]

Media
The daily Hartford Courant newspaper is the country's oldest continuously published newspaper, founded in 1764. A weekly newspaper, owned by the same company that owns the Courant, the Hartford Advocate, also serves Hartford and the surrounding area, as does the Hartford Business Journal ("Greater Hartford's Business Weekly") and the weekly Hartford News.

The Hartford region is also served by several magazines. Among the local publications are: Hartford Magazine, a monthly lifestyle magazine serving Greater Hartford; CT Cottages & Gardens; Connecticut Business, a glossy monthly serving all of Connecticut; and Home Living CT, a home and garden magazine published five times a year and distributed statewide.

Several television and radio stations are based in Hartford, including Connecticut Public Television, which is headquartered in Hartford. These stations serve the Hartford/New Haven market, which is the 29th largest media market in the U.S.

See also: List of newspapers in Connecticut in the 18th-century: Hartford

Education
Colleges & Universities Hartford houses several world-class institutions such as Trinity College. Other notable institutions include Capital Community College (located Downtown in the old G. Fox Department Store building on Main Street), the University of Connecticut School of Business (also Downtown), the Hartford Seminary (in the West End), the University of Connecticut School of Law (also in the West End) and Rensselaer at Hartford (a Downtown branch campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). University of Saint Joseph opened its school of pharmacy in the downtown area in 2011.[68] The University of Hartford features several cultural institutions: the Joseloff Gallery, the Renee Samuels Center, and the Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts center. The "U of H" campus is co-located in the city's Blue Hills neighborhood and in neighboring towns West Hartford and Bloomfield. Primary & Secondary School Hartford is served by the Hartford Public Schools. Hartford Public High School, the nation's second oldest high school, is located in the Asylum Hill neighborhood of Hartford. The city is also home to Bulkeley High School on Wethersfield Avenue, Global Communications Academy on Greenfield Avenue, Weaver High School on Granby Street, and Sport Medical and Sciences Academy on Huyshope Avenue. In addition, Hartford contains The Learning Corridor, which is home to the Montessori Magnet School, Hartford Magnet Middle School, Greater Harford Academy of Math and Science, and the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. One of the technical high schools in the Connecticut Technical High School System, A.I. Prince Technical High School, also calls the city home.The Classical Magnet School is one of the many Hartford Magnet Schools. The city's high school graduation rate reached 71 percent in 2013, according to the state Department of Education.[69] Hartford is also home to Watkinson School, a private coeducational day school, and Grace S. Webb School, a special education school. Catholic schools are administered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford. Hartford Public Schools District-only schools •Achievement First Hartford High Academy •Culinary Arts Academy at Weaver High School •Opportunity High School •Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli Gifted & Talented Academy •Bulkeley High School Teacher Preparation and Humanities Academies •Adult Education Center Open Choice schools[edit] Hartford Public High School – The nation's second oldest high school is now open to both Hartford students & Greater Hartford students, the school now operates as three academies under one roof: HPHS Academy of Engineering and Green Technology HPHS Academy of Nursing and Health Sciences HPHS Law & Government Academy

Global Communications Academy High School Inc.: Hartford's Insurance & Finance Academy

Magnet schools •Capital Community College Magnet Academy •Montessori Magnet School •Capital Preparatory Magnet School Upper School •Classical Magnet School •Hartford Journalism & Media Academy Magnet School •Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy •R.J. Kinsella Magnet School of Performing Arts •Pathways Academy of Technology & Design •Sport & Medical Sciences Academy •University High School of Science & Engineering •The Academy of Aerospace and Engineering High School •Greater Hartford Academy of Math and Science •Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts •Two Rivers Magnet High School