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Over Time: West Hartford’s Historical Population
Census data, from colonial times on up to the present, is a key resource for those who study the ways in which communities change with the passage of time.
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William Pinney Does It All for Ellington
William N. Pinney’s life was one of public service. A…
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Video: No Booze for You – Who Knew?
During Prohibition, many Connecticut residents found it easy to obtain alcohol illegally, though violations of Prohibition led to an increase in violent crime.
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Map – Bird’s-eye View of Ansonia, 1875
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries panoramic or…
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29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers Fought More than One War
The state’s first African American regiment of the Civil War distinguished itself by battling Confederate forces and 19th-century prejudices.
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Evaporated Milk’s Connecticut Connection – Who Knew?
…that in 1856 businessman Gail Borden Jr. opened the first…
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The Connecticut History Sports Challenge
Here’s a game for the truly competitive: Flex your mental…
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Video – When Disaster Struck: The 1938 Hurricane, Part I
The CPTV Original, When Disaster Struck Connecticut, provides an in-depth look at the four major natural disasters that befell Connecticut between 1888 and 1955. This clip of archival sources and eyewitness accounts paints a vivid picture of how Connecticut residents coped with the 1938 Hurricane.
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The Forlorn Soldier
The Forlorn Soldier, a statue by James G. Batterson, survived years of neglect, punishing weather, and movements to tear it down, and yet still serves an important purpose in Civil War commemoration.
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A Soldier’s Welcome
In September of 2013, officials arranged for the statue of the Forlorn Soldier to be placed in its new permanent home at the Connecticut State Capitol.
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Middletown Historical Society Explores City’s Lost Maritime Past
The Middletown Press – by Scott Whipple There may be…
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Video – William Gillette’s Railroad
YouTube – CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection Actor…
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Video – Free-for-all Race at Charter Oak Park
A crowd of some 25,000 to 30,000 people turned out to see John R. Gentry compete for a $6,000 purse.
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Hidden Nearby: Two Monuments to Sportsmen at Housatonic Meadows State Park
Two monuments mark this area’s reputation as one of the finest fly fishing locales in the Northeast.
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Christopher Miner Spencer, 19th-century Arms Manufacturer
A well-known American inventor in his day, this Manchester native obtained 42 patents during his lifetime and created the first successful breech-loading repeating rifle.
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An Overview of Connecticut’s Outdoor Sculpture
Public sculpture has punctuated the state for three centuries, reflecting the values of our communities, their times, and their funders.
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A Special Place to Honor Military Veterans in Plainville
On the corner of Maple and Whiting Streets in Plainville,…
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Map – Connecticut Landmarks of the Constitution
A map of some of the Connecticut Landmarks of the Constitution researched and published by the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation.
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Nathan Starr’s Cutlass Fought the War of 1812
On May 18, 1808, the Navy Agent Joseph Hull of New London negotiated a contract with Nathan Starr of Middletown for 2,000 cutlasses.
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Video – Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures: Hill-Stead Museum
Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures is a series of 50 five-minute film vignettes that profiles a variety of the state’s most notable cultural resources.
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Video – Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures: Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum
Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures is a series of 50 five-minute film vignettes that profiles a variety of the state’s most notable cultural resources.
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A Bird’s-eye View of Bridgeport
The lower perspective of this 1882 example is somewhat atypical of most of the bird’s-eye views of the era, but its emphasis on industrial accomplishment is a hallmark of the genre.
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Sheff v. O’Neill Settlements Target Educational Segregation In Hartford
This landmark case not only drew attention to inequalities in area school systems, it focused efforts on reform.
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Video – Rudolph Zallinger’s Masterpiece, “The Age of Reptiles”
The Yale Peabody Museum is home to one of the world’s largest murals, which illustrates changes in the earth’s flora and fauna between the Devonian and Cretaceous periods.
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Protected: Brass City/Grass Roots: Remnants and Revivals (10)
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Read Protected: Brass City/Grass Roots: From Farmers to Developers: The Rasmussens of Town Plot (4)
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Read Protected: Brass City/Grass Roots: The Pierponts of East Farms (3)
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Read Protected: Brass City/Grass Roots: Waterbury Farming in the Late 1800s (2)
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Read Protected: Brass City/Grass Roots: The Persistence of Farming in Waterbury, Connecticut (1)
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Understanding the Environmental Effects of Industry by Examining the Starr Mill
The development of resources both in and around the Coginchaug River in Middletown were representative of prevailing attitudes about industrial expansion and environmental protection.
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Video – Martha Parsons Tribute Film
The Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame pays tribute to Enfield native Martha Parsons, the first female business executive in Connecticut to earn her position based on merit.
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Food Needed to Win the War Comes from Washington
During World War I, the Town of Washington instituted a number of programs to increase food production and preservation to feed Allied armies and the European people,
Read Protected: Brass City/Grass Roots: Struggles and Decline (9)
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Read Protected: Brass City/Grass Roots: Food Marketing and Processing as Part of Civic Culture (8)
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Read Protected: Brass City/Grass Roots: What Makes a Farm a Farm? Other Sites of Food Production in Waterbury (7)
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Read Protected: Brass City/Grass Roots: Bucks Hill: Waterbury’s Rural Holdout (6)
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Read Protected: Brass City/Grass Roots: Farming as Recycling: The Becces in the North End (5)
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Race Restrictive Covenants in Property Deeds
“No persons of any race except the white race shall use or occupy any building on any lot… .” Language such as this still appears in Hartford-area housing covenants today.
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Heart Pump out of an Erector Set – Who Knew?
Yale medical student William Sewell Jr. built the first artificial heart (partly out of Erector Set pieces), and conducted successful bypass experiments in 1949.
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The Socially Dynamic Drumlin of Foss Hill
The changing nature of Foss Hill (on the campus of Wesleyan University) tells the story of evolving cultural influences that altered the landscapes of universities across the country.
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Middletown’s Reservoirs Drive Growth Throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries
The Laurel Brook and Mount Higby Reservoirs helped provide reliable sources of water that drove the growth of Middletown.
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Bird’s-eye Views Offer Idealized Portraits of Progress
Panoramic prints of growing cities and towns became popular in the late 1800s as Connecticut transformed from an agricultural to an industrial state.
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The Hartford Convention – Today in History: December 15
On December 15, 1814, delegates to the Hartford Convention met…
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Connecticut’s Black Civil War Regiment
“If you win freedom and citizenship, we shall share your freedom and citizenship.” With these words, abolitionist Frederick Douglass reminded African American soldiers from Connecticut that they fought for the hopes of many.
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Video – Haunted History: Harriet Beecher Stowe House
Your Town’s History in Video: Harriet Beecher Stowe House
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The Oldest US Newspaper in Continuous Publication
The Hartford Courant is a source for news and history…
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Video – Home Front: Connecticut During World War II – Migration and Housing
This excerpt from the Connecticut Experience series provides a glimpse into the people, places, and events that have shaped our state’s history.
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