Neighborhoods of Hartford, Connecticut
Encyclopedia
The Neighborhoods of Hartford, Connecticut
are varied and historic.
.
The area, similar to others surrounding Hartford, was primarily farmland through much of the 19th century. In 1878, residents tried to secede from Hartford, claiming they were over-taxed merely because their land was not developed.
By the early 1880s, the expansion of the adjacent Frog Hollow neighborhood, coupled with the extension of the railroad line southwest towards New Haven, forever changed the complexion of Frog Hollow.
In 1907, Royal Typewriter was built along the railroad tracks and other factories moved into the neighborhood, stimulating the need for housing for workers. The early population of the neighborhood was Irish, followed by French Canadian, Scandinavian and German.
Today, the neighborhood has a large population of Portuguese, Brazilians, Vietnamese, and Puerto Ricans.
The neighborhood was originally developed as three- and six-family buildings to house the immigrant population who worked in the factories which lined Capitol Avenue. The Park River, now underground, once was used as a source of water power by the factories. An inlet of the Park River Tunnel lies near Pope Park, providing an entry point for tunnel explorations by urban speleologists.
Lafayette is the neighborhood's oldest street, appearing on a 1640 map of Hartford as part of the "Road from George Steele's to the Great Swamp." It was called Cooper Lane between 1838 and 1851 and was home to the pre-Civil War African-American community in Hartford.
Park Street was once called Malt Lane. In 1821, it was renamed for Barnard Park at its eastern end, which was the only park in the city at the time. Park Street has also been called "New England's Spanish Main Street" because of the predominantly Puerto Rican population and merchants. Currently Park Street is under major construction. Cobblestone sidewalks are being made, as well as more parking for consumers and repaved streets.
The neighborhood is home to Pope Park, designed by renowned Olmsted Brothers
landscape architects. Land for the park was donated by industrialist Albert Pope, who believed that the success of any business was in large part reliant upon the happiness of its employees. Today, the 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) park provides recreational facilities for neighborhood families.
The Frog Hollow neighborhood is now home to an array of Spanish merchants. Once inhabited by French merchants, the migrating trend after WWII brought migrants from Puerto Rico. Throughout the years ethnic groups calling the area home have been diverse, and have included Swedish, Danish, German, Irish, French Canadian, Greek and Puerto Rican.
Frog Hollow now attracts consumers who are looking for Caribbean food and products. Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez hopes to attract new merchants looking to expand their businesses into Hartford. Also under works is the opening of Park Street which will feature a plaza modeled after Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain, at the intersection of Park Street and Main Street.
Frog Hollow is also home to Hartford Superior Court, Hartford Public High School, Hartford Community Court, Family Court, Trinity College, The Learning Corridor, The Lyceum Resource and Conference Center, and Broad Street Juvenile Court. Hartford Public High School, more notably is considered the nation's second oldest high school in existence.
The Asylum Hill neighborhood was originally known as "Lords Hill." The Asylum Hill neighborhood is home to the Asylum Hill Congregational Church (organized in 1864), The Trinity Episcopal Church, and Saint Joseph's Cathedral (dedicated 1892).
Many insurance companies have been located in the Asylum Hill neighborhood, such as The Hartford and Rossia Insurance Company (now Northeastern Insurance Company). Aetna
Insurance Company still remains as a major fixture along Farmington Avenue and recently announced that they will be moving more than 3,400 of their Middletown, Connecticut employees to Hartford. Also along Farmington Avenue are the homes of Mark Twain
and Harriet Beecher Stowe
, which are now museums.
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
. The Hastings was primarily a business hotel that housed former President Bill Clinton
when he visited the city. The hotel closed abruptly in 2004. Trinity College
in Hartford has also housed students at the former Hastings Hotel due to an extremely large freshman class.
to the West Hartford
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 Park http://www.epcentury.com/ 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
in 1904.
The University of Connecticut School of Law
, Watkinson School
and the Hartford Seminary
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
from 1927 to 1944).
The southern West End and Parkville also serve as the local Gay Village
.
and I-91
running at the eastern end of the neighborhood. The Charter Oak
monument is located at the corner of Charter Oak Place, a historic street, and Charter Oak Avenue.
The area was home to the Colts Firearm Factory
which was started by Samuel Colt
, who invented the revolver. Along with building a factory, Mr. Colt also made a village with houses, a library, and recreational activities so that his employees could be close to work. Colt's estate, Armsmear, was given to the city as Colt's Park after Mr. and Mrs. Colt's death. A developer is currently in the process of renovating the whole facility to create office space and apartments for completion in 2006/2007.
The Capewell Horsenail Company was also in the area. In 1881, George Capewell
invented a machine to make horseshoe nails.
The Sheldon Oak neighborhood is now home to a division of Clear Channel
Radio and is currently under construction. Sheldon/ Charter Oak is under a major renovation with new city housing as part of Mayor Perez's plan to improve city life for residents and improve Hartford's image.
Today the Upper Albany and Clay-Arsenal are home to an active community of West Indian/Caribbean immigrants that provide the area with a cultural and artistic presence: the West Indian Social Club and Scott's Jamaican Bakery are two notable neighborhood institutions. In an effort to increase home ownership in distressed parts of the neighborhood, some real estate companies have begun to call the Upper Albany and Clay-Arsenal areas as 'Uptown', after Manhattan's well known Harlem
neighborhood. The Hartford Housing Authority has razed the Stowe Village projects on Kensington Street and built single family townhouses in its place. Habitat for Humanity and other community organizations have built several homes throughout the neighborhood and the rest of the city.
In spite of these neighborhoods' overwhelmingly negative reputation for its crime, distressed economic state, and dilapidated appearance, there are some positive recent developments. There are isolated pockets of renewal, such as the revitalization of Belden Street (seen below in the gallery).
town line in the southern part of the city. Franklin Avenue is known as the city's Little Italy. 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 now 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 white flight
from 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
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
, Albanians
and other ethnic groups from the former Republic of Yugoslavia.
The Hartford portion of 237 acre (0.95910582 km²) Goodwin Park (85 acres of which are in the town of Wethersfield) is in the South End.
, whose home is located on Main Street. Congress Street and Morris Street compose a historic district with many Greek Revival and Italianate homes. Previously it was rumored that many of the homes in this area were slated for demolition in the early 1980s as many were boarded up. Today, Congress Street is a well-kept street complete with cobblestone crosswalks and architecturally harmonious lighting.
Hartford Hospital
, the largest hospital in the area, and the adjacent Connecticut Children's Medical Center
, which is the only hospital primarily for children, are also located in South Green.
's campus is in this neighborhood.
serves small aircraft and offers flight instruction. The Hartford Electric Light Company which started in 1921 is still operational and owned by CT Light and Power. One of the Metropolitan District Water pollution control plants is located in the south meadows. Also, the Mid-Connecticut Resource Recovery Facility, which opened in 1987 and is on 57 acres (231,000 m²), is located in the area.
is located in Southwest.
, BMW
, Nissan, Infiniti
, Jaguar
, Toyota and Mazda
as well as a brand new CarMax dealership. The North Meadows is also the home of the CT Expo Center which features 88000 square feet (8,175.5 m²) of exhibition space, the Meadows Music Theater (formerly the Dodge Music Center), which hosts dozens of big name concerts each year, and Riverside Park. 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.
The CT DOT operates regional CT Transit buses out of the North Meadows, near Riverside Park. Riverside Park is part of Riverfront Recapture, a project undertaken by the State of Connecticut and the City of Hartford, aiming to renew interest in the waterfront of the Connecticut River. 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
, East Hartford and Hartford public schools.
, and the University of Hartford
.
, 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
.
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
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 CapitolConnecticut 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 House of Representatives, as well as the office of the...
.
Parkville
Parkville takes its name from its location at the junction of the North and South Branches of the Park River.The area, similar to others surrounding Hartford, was primarily farmland through much of the 19th century. In 1878, residents tried to secede from Hartford, claiming they were over-taxed merely because their land was not developed.
By the early 1880s, the expansion of the adjacent Frog Hollow neighborhood, coupled with the extension of the railroad line southwest towards New Haven, forever changed the complexion of Frog Hollow.
In 1907, Royal Typewriter was built along the railroad tracks and other factories moved into the neighborhood, stimulating the need for housing for workers. The early population of the neighborhood was Irish, followed by French Canadian, Scandinavian and German.
Today, the neighborhood has a large population of Portuguese, Brazilians, Vietnamese, and Puerto Ricans.
Frog Hollow
Frog Hollow takes its name from the marshy conditions in the low land near what is now the corner of Broad and Ward Streets.The neighborhood was originally developed as three- and six-family buildings to house the immigrant population who worked in the factories which lined Capitol Avenue. The Park River, now underground, once was used as a source of water power by the factories. An inlet of the Park River Tunnel lies near Pope Park, providing an entry point for tunnel explorations by urban speleologists.
Lafayette is the neighborhood's oldest street, appearing on a 1640 map of Hartford as part of the "Road from George Steele's to the Great Swamp." It was called Cooper Lane between 1838 and 1851 and was home to the pre-Civil War African-American community in Hartford.
Park Street was once called Malt Lane. In 1821, it was renamed for Barnard Park at its eastern end, which was the only park in the city at the time. Park Street has also been called "New England's Spanish Main Street" because of the predominantly Puerto Rican population and merchants. Currently Park Street is under major construction. Cobblestone sidewalks are being made, as well as more parking for consumers and repaved streets.
The neighborhood is home to Pope Park, designed by renowned Olmsted Brothers
Olmsted Brothers
The Olmsted Brothers company was an influential landscape design firm in the United States, formed in 1898 by stepbrothers John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. .-History:...
landscape architects. Land for the park was donated by industrialist Albert Pope, who believed that the success of any business was in large part reliant upon the happiness of its employees. Today, the 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) park provides recreational facilities for neighborhood families.
Frog Hollow now attracts consumers who are looking for Caribbean food and products. Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez hopes to attract new merchants looking to expand their businesses into Hartford. Also under works is the opening of Park Street which will feature a plaza modeled after Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain, at the intersection of Park Street and Main Street.
Frog Hollow is also home to Hartford Superior Court, Hartford Public High School, Hartford Community Court, Family Court, Trinity College, The Learning Corridor, The Lyceum Resource and Conference Center, and Broad Street Juvenile Court. Hartford Public High School, more notably is considered the nation's second oldest high school in existence.
Asylum Hill
Many insurance companies have been located in the Asylum Hill neighborhood, such as The Hartford and Rossia Insurance Company (now Northeastern Insurance Company). Aetna
Aetna
Aetna, Inc. is an American health insurance company, providing a range of traditional and consumer directed health care insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, group life, long-term care, and disability plans, and medical management...
Insurance Company still remains as a major fixture along Farmington Avenue and recently announced that they will be moving more than 3,400 of their Middletown, Connecticut employees to Hartford. Also along Farmington Avenue are the homes of Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
and Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
, which are now museums.
Aetna
Aetna, Inc. is an American health insurance company, providing a range of traditional and consumer directed health care insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, group life, long-term care, and disability plans, and medical management...
. The Hastings was primarily a business hotel that housed former President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
when he visited the city. The hotel closed abruptly in 2004. Trinity College
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. The college enrolls 2,300 students and has been coeducational since 1969. Trinity offers 38 majors and 26 minors, and has...
in Hartford has also housed students at the former Hastings Hotel due to an extremely large freshman class.
West End
The West End neighborhood, which runs from the Park River, just past the Mark Twain HouseMark Twain House
The Mark Twain House and Museum was the home of Mark Twain from 1874 to 1891 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Before 1874, Twain had lived in Hannibal, Missouri. The architectural style of the 19-room house is Victorian Gothic...
to the West Hartford
West Hartford, Connecticut
West Hartford is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town was incorporated in 1854. Prior to that date, the town was a parish of Hartford....
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 Park http://www.epcentury.com/ 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
Theodore Wirth 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 parks, horticulturalist, and park planner. Before emigrating to America...
in 1904.
The University of Connecticut School of Law
University of Connecticut School of Law
The University of Connecticut School of Law is the only public law school in Connecticut and one of only four in New England. The school was recently ranked forty-sixth out of the 190 American Bar Association-accredited law schools in the United States and is considered a Tier 1 school by U.S...
, Watkinson School
Watkinson School
Watkinson School is a private coeducational day school in Hartford, Connecticut. Watkinson is situated on Bloomfield Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut, adjacent to the University of Hartford and serves students from sixth through 12th grade...
and the Hartford Seminary
Hartford Seminary
Hartford Seminary is a theological college in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.-History:Seminaries in the city of Hartford date back to 1833. In 1913, the current Hartford Seminary came into existence through the combination of three Hartford-based schools affiliated with the city's Congregationalist...
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
Arthur Everett Austin, Jr.
Arthur Everett "Chick" Austin, Jr. was the innovative and pacesetting director of the Wadsworth Atheneum from 1927 through 1944. Austin's visionary gift included persistence in the introduction of then-modern theater and modern design and especially contemporaneous art...
(Director of Wadsworth Atheneum
Wadsworth Atheneum
The Wadsworth Atheneum is the oldest public art museum in the United States, with significant holdings of French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School landscapes, modernist masterpieces and contemporary works, as well as extensive holdings in early American furniture and...
from 1927 to 1944).
The southern West End and Parkville also serve as the local Gay Village
Gay village
A gay village is an urban geographic location with generally recognized boundaries where a large number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people live or frequent...
.
Sheldon/Charter Oak
The neighborhood is located just south of downtown with the Connecticut RiverConnecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
and I-91
Interstate 91
Interstate 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 New England...
running at the eastern end of the neighborhood. The Charter Oak
Charter Oak
The Charter Oak was an unusually large white oak tree growing, from around the 12th or 13th century until 1856, on what the English colonists named Wyllys Hyll, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA...
monument is located at the corner of Charter Oak Place, a historic street, and Charter Oak Avenue.
The area was home to the Colts Firearm Factory
Colt's Manufacturing Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company is a United States firearms manufacturer, whose first predecessor corporation was founded in 1836 by Sam Colt. Colt is best known for the engineering, production, and marketing of firearms over the later half of the 19th and the 20th century...
which was started by Samuel Colt
Samuel Colt
Samuel Colt was an American inventor and industrialist. He was the founder of Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company , and is widely credited with popularizing the revolver. Colt's innovative contributions to the weapons industry have been described by arms historian James E...
, who invented the revolver. Along with building a factory, Mr. Colt also made a village with houses, a library, and recreational activities so that his employees could be close to work. Colt's estate, Armsmear, was given to the city as Colt's Park after Mr. and Mrs. Colt's death. A developer is currently in the process of renovating the whole facility to create office space and apartments for completion in 2006/2007.
The Capewell Horsenail Company was also in the area. In 1881, George Capewell
George Capewell
George Joseph Capewell was born in Birmingham, England. He was educated in Woodbury, Connecticut and went to work at fifteen for Scoville in Waterbury, Connecticut. At twenty he was Mechanical Superintendent of Cheshire Manufacturing Company.In 1870 he founded a business, manufacturing specialties...
invented a machine to make horseshoe nails.
The Sheldon Oak neighborhood is now home to a division of Clear Channel
Clear channel
A clear-channel station is an AM band Radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. Usually known as class A stations since 1982, they are occasionally still referred to by their former...
Radio and is currently under construction. Sheldon/ Charter Oak is under a major renovation with new city housing as part of Mayor Perez's plan to improve city life for residents and improve Hartford's image.
Clay-Arsenal and Upper Albany
Once home to a mostly Irish and Jewish population, Upper Albany and Clay-Arsenal today are primarily African American, West Indian/Caribbean and Latino. Following World War II, a series of events occurred that led to a sharp decline. This began with the construction of Interstate 84 which gutted the neighborhood, separating it from nearby downtown. During this time the city's once strong manufacturing base dissolved, creating the start of a mass exodus to ringing suburbs (most notably north to neighboring Bloomfield and Windsor). Former military barracks were converted into housing projects, creating a high concentration of low-income housing. But perhaps the most devastating blow occurred on April 4, 1968: Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a riot ensued that resulted in massive arson, particularly on Albany Avenue. Within a few hours, the North End's major commercial strip was simply gone, and the remaining white population fled, and much of the middle and working class black population left in the following years.Today the Upper Albany and Clay-Arsenal are home to an active community of West Indian/Caribbean immigrants that provide the area with a cultural and artistic presence: the West Indian Social Club and Scott's Jamaican Bakery are two notable neighborhood institutions. In an effort to increase home ownership in distressed parts of the neighborhood, some real estate companies have begun to call the Upper Albany and Clay-Arsenal areas as 'Uptown', after Manhattan's well known Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
neighborhood. The Hartford Housing Authority has razed the Stowe Village projects on Kensington Street and built single family townhouses in its place. Habitat for Humanity and other community organizations have built several homes throughout the neighborhood and the rest of the city.
In spite of these neighborhoods' overwhelmingly negative reputation for its crime, distressed economic state, and dilapidated appearance, there are some positive recent developments. There are isolated pockets of renewal, such as the revitalization of Belden Street (seen below in the gallery).
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-WethersfieldWethersfield, Connecticut
Wethersfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. Many records from colonial times spell the name Weathersfield, while Native Americans called it Pyquag...
town line in the southern part of the city. Franklin Avenue is known as the city's Little Italy. Although many Italians have moved just over the border to Wethersfield
Wethersfield, Connecticut
Wethersfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. Many records from colonial times spell the name Weathersfield, while Native Americans called it Pyquag...
, Newington
Newington, Connecticut
Newington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2000 census, it had a total population of 29,306. The Connecticut Department of Transportation has its headquarters in Newington....
, and Rocky Hill
Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Rocky Hill is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 17,966 at the 2000 census. Rocky Hill was part of Wethersfield, the neighboring town to the north, until it was independently incorporated in 1849....
, 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 now 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 white flight
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
from 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
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
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
Bosnians are people who reside in, or come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the modern state definition a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and...
, Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
and other ethnic groups from the former Republic of Yugoslavia.
The Hartford portion of 237 acre (0.95910582 km²) Goodwin Park (85 acres of which are in the town of Wethersfield) is in the South End.
South Green
South Green is home to Barnard Park in honor of Henry BarnardHenry Barnard
Henry Barnard was an American educationalist and reformer.-Biography:...
, whose home is located on Main Street. Congress Street and Morris Street compose a historic district with many Greek Revival and Italianate homes. Previously it was rumored that many of the homes in this area were slated for demolition in the early 1980s as many were boarded up. Today, Congress Street is a well-kept street complete with cobblestone crosswalks and architecturally harmonious lighting.
Hartford Hospital
Hartford Hospital
Hartford Hospital is an acute care hospital located in the South End of Hartford, Connecticut. The hospital was formed in 1854 after the State of Connecticut granted a charter for the Formation of Hartford Hospital following a boiler explosion and resulting fire at the Fales and Grey Car Works...
, the largest hospital in the area, and the adjacent Connecticut Children's Medical Center
Connecticut Children's Medical Center
Connecticut Children's Medical Center is a comprehensive pediatric hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. The hospital serves more than 15,000 children in primary care services, 30,000 in emergency care services, and 6000 in surgical services annually...
, which is the only hospital primarily for children, are also located in South Green.
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. Trinity CollegeTrinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. The college enrolls 2,300 students and has been coeducational since 1969. Trinity offers 38 majors and 26 minors, and has...
's campus is in this neighborhood.
South Meadows
Located at the southeastern corner of the city, the area is home to many industrial and commercial businesses. The neighborhood is home to the Regional Market, a 32 acre (129,000 m²) facility with 185,000 of warehouse space. Brainard Field along I-91Interstate 91
Interstate 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 New England...
serves small aircraft and offers flight instruction. The Hartford Electric Light Company which started in 1921 is still operational and owned by CT Light and Power. One of the Metropolitan District Water pollution control plants is located in the south meadows. Also, the Mid-Connecticut Resource Recovery Facility, which opened in 1987 and is on 57 acres (231,000 m²), is located in the area.
Southwest
Southwest 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 WeidenmannJacob Weidenmann
Jacob Weidenmann was a noted American landscape architect.Weidenmann was born in Winterthur, Switzerland, and educated at the Akadomie der Bildenden Kunste, where he studied art, architecture, and engineering. After graduating, he worked in Munich, Paris, London, New York City, Panama, and Peru,...
is located in Southwest.
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.North Meadows
Located just north of downtown along the CT River and I-91 the North Meadows is a largely commercial and industrial area that is home to many of the area's car dealerships including dealers for Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
, BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
, Nissan, Infiniti
Infiniti
is the luxury division of automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989 in North America. Marketing operations have since grown to include the Middle East, South Korea, Russia, Taiwan, China, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Infiniti began sales in additional...
, Jaguar
Jaguar (car)
Jaguar Cars Ltd, known simply as Jaguar , is a British luxury car manufacturer, headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England. It is part of the Jaguar Land Rover business, a subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors....
, Toyota and Mazda
Mazda
is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...
as well as a brand new CarMax dealership. The North Meadows is also the home of the CT Expo Center which features 88000 square feet (8,175.5 m²) of exhibition space, the Meadows Music Theater (formerly the Dodge Music Center), which hosts dozens of big name concerts each year, and Riverside Park. 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.
The CT DOT operates regional CT Transit buses out of the North Meadows, near Riverside Park. Riverside Park is part of Riverfront Recapture, a project undertaken by the State of Connecticut and the City of Hartford, aiming to renew interest in the waterfront of the Connecticut River. 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
Watkinson School is a private coeducational day school in Hartford, Connecticut. Watkinson is situated on Bloomfield Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut, adjacent to the University of Hartford and serves students from sixth through 12th grade...
, East Hartford and Hartford public schools.
Blue Hills
The northwest corner of the city, known as Blue Hills, is home to many schools and homes. It has roughly 10,000 residents, and has several schools and one university located there. Its main thoroughfares are Granby Street, Blue Hills Avenue (Route 187), Plainfield Street, Bloomfield Avenue (Route 189) and Albany Avenue (Route 44). Connecticut Transit operates several bus routes through the neighborhood, such as the 50 and 52, 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 has a majority of West Indian and African American people living there. Education wise Annie Fisher School, Mountain Laurel School (Annie Fisher School Annex), Rawson School, Mark Twain School, Weaver High School, Watkinson SchoolWatkinson School
Watkinson School is a private coeducational day school in Hartford, Connecticut. Watkinson is situated on Bloomfield Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut, adjacent to the University of Hartford and serves students from sixth through 12th grade...
, and the University of Hartford
University of Hartford
The University of Hartford is a private, independent, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in West Hartford, Connecticut. The degree programs at the University of Hartford hold the highest levels of accreditation available in the US, including the Engineering Accreditation Commission of...
.
Northeast
The Northeast neighborhood (sometimes known as North End) is the portion of Hartford east of Blue Hills and west of the Amtrak railroad tracks. It is home to the 1944 Hartford Circus Fire MemorialHartford Circus Fire
The Hartford Circus Fire, which occurred on July 6, 1944, in Hartford, Connecticut, was one of the worst fire disasters in the history of the United States...
, Keney Park, which is the largest municipal park in New England and Weaver High School, which was also the alma mater of ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
actor Eriq La Salle
Eriq La Salle
Eriq La Salle is an American actor and director, known for his portrayals of Darryl in the 1988 comedy film Coming to America and Dr. Peter Benton on the NBC drama series ER.-Early life:...
.
External links
- Hartford Neighborhood Data, Hartford Public Library website
- Neighborhoods of Hartford (maps, photos, and descriptions)