 Connecticut
Information
Capital
City: Hartford
Economy: Manufacturing,
insurance, government, services and agriculture.
Population: 3,405,565
Time Zone: 5 hours
behind Greenwich Mean Time (-5 GMT). Daylight Saving Time is observed
April-October
Connecticut's
Flag: On a field of azure blue is an ornamental
white shield with three grapevines, each bearing three bunches of
purple grapes. The states motto "He who Transplanted Sustains
Us" is displayed on a white ribbon. The vines stand for the
first settlements of English people who began to move from Massachusetts
in the 1630's. These settlements were thought of as grapevines that
had been transplanted.
History
of Connecticut: The Dutch navigator, Adriaen Block,
was the first European of record to explore the area, sailing up
the Connecticut River in 1614. In 1633, Dutch colonists built a
fort and trading post near present-day Hartford, but soon lost control
to English Puritans migrating south from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
English settlements, established in the 1630s at Windsor, Wethersfield,
and Hartford, united in 1639 to form the Connecticut Colony and
adopted the Fundamental Orders. The colony's royal charter of 1662
was exceptionally liberal. When Gov. Edmund Andros tried to seize
it in 1687, it was hidden in the Hartford Oak, commemorated in Charter
Oak Place. Connecticut played a prominent role in the Revolutionary
War, serving as the Continental Army's major supplier. Sometimes
called the “Arsenal of the Nation,” the state became
one of the most industrialized in the nation. Today, Connecticut
factories produce weapons, sewing machines, jet engines, helicopters,
motors, hardware and tools, cutlery, clocks, locks, ball bearings,
silverware, and submarines. Hartford has the oldest U.S. newspaper
still being published—the Hartford Courant, established 1764—and
is the insurance capital of the nation. Poultry, fruit, and dairy
products account for the largest portion of farm income, and Connecticut's
shade-grown tobacco is acknowledged to be the state's most valuable
crop per acre. Connecticut is a popular resort area with its 250-mile
Long Island Sound shoreline and many inland lakes. Among the major
points of interest are Yale University's Gallery of Fine Arts and
Peabody Museum. Other famous museums include the P. T. Barnum, Winchester
Gun, and American Clock and Watch. The town of Mystic features a
recreated 19th-century New England seaport and the Mystic Marinelife
Aquarium.
Other Connecticut Links:
Connecticut Business
and Industry
Connecticut Conference of Municipalities
Connecticut Department of
Education
Connecticut Office of
Tourism
Connecticut Rural Development
Council |
