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