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The Long, Ambiguous History of Connecticut’s Blue Laws
Connecticut’s blue laws are a series of laws based on puritan values that restrict or ban certain “morally questionable” activities on days of worship or rest.
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Roger Sherman Dies – Today in History: July 23
On July 23, 1793, Roger Sherman—a Connecticut merchant, lawyer, and statesman—died in New Haven.
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Plainfield Academy: Grooming Connecticut Scholars in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Founded in the late 18th century, the Plainfield Academy went on to become just the third school incorporated in the state of Connecticut.
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A Photographer with a Painter’s Eye: The Story of Nelson Augustus Moore
Kensington-born Moore took “on the spot” photographs that documented life and events during the 1850s and 1860s.
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Emmeline Pankhurst’s “Freedom or Death” Speech Energizes Connecticut Women in 1913
In 1913, a famous British suffragist, Emmeline Pankhurst, gave a powerful and memorable speech on the steps of the Parsons Theater in Hartford.
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Mystic River Bridge Opens – Today in History: July 19
On July 19, 1922, the Mystic River Bridge spanning the Mystic River in Groton opened to the public.
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The Connecticut Town Green
Considered a quintessential feature of the New England landscape, town greens weren’t always the peaceful, park-like spaces we treasure today.
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Killingworth’s Automated Attraction – Who Knew?
In the 1890s Clark Coe created an attraction of life-sized moving figures called the Killingworth Images on his farm on Green Hill Road.
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Up from the Ashes: Fire at the Meriden Britannia Company – Today in History: July 16
A manufacturer of silver-plated ware rebounds from the worst fire ever to occur in Meriden.
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Preserving Connecticut’s Natural Beauty: Connecticut’s First State Parks
Sherwood Island, Mount Tom, Macedonia Brook, and Kent Falls are among the earliest lands set aside as the parks movement took hold in the state.
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Indian Hill Cemetery and the Landscaping of Burial Grounds in the Mid-19th Century
The landscaping of Indian Hill Cemetery speaks to 19th-century reactions to industrialization and urbanization and the search for peaceful natural environments.
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Weaving the Cultural Fabric of Beacon Falls
The textile mills of the Naugatuck Valley brought tremendous change to towns like Beacon Falls.
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Brass City/Grass Roots: The Persistence of Farming in Waterbury, Connecticut
This article is part of the digital exhibit “Brass City/Grass Roots: The Persistence of Farming in Waterbury, Connecticut”
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The Charter of 1662
The Connecticut Charter, which provided the basis for Connecticut government until 1818, was secured because of Connecticut’s realization after the restoration of Charles II to the English throne in 1660 that the government of the colony lacked any legal foundation.
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Boat Shoes Have Ties to Connecticut – Who Knew?
During the 1935 winter, Paul Sperry watched his dog run across ice and snow without slipping and got inspired to create a shoe that would help human traction.
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Amasa Goodyear and Son Re-Invent Naugatuck
Born in New Haven, Amasa Goodyear was an inventor, manufacturer, merchant, and farmer.
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Rosamond Danielson: Windham County Suffragist and Community Leader
Rosamond Danielson was a respected suffragist, World War I worker, and philanthropist from Putnam Heights.
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Hartford Circus Fire: “The Tent’s on Fire!” – Who Knew?
The Hartford Circus Fire on July 6, 1944, may be the worst human-caused disaster ever to have taken place in Connecticut.
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Saving Sessions Woods
After decades as historic family property and summer camp, Sessions Woods became a park after local residents organized to save it from private developers.
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Wallingford Native Son Signed the Declaration of Independence
Lyman Hall served in the Second Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence.
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The Rise and Fall of Sealing in Early New London Industry
New London owed much of its early prosperity to the success of its whaling fleet: it was once the third-largest whaling port in the world.
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Constance Baker Motley: A Warrior for Justice
New Haven lawyer Constance Baker Motley became famous for arguing some of the most important cases of the civil rights movement.
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The Amistad
After enslaved people revolted and took control of the Amistad in 1839, Americans captured the ship off Long Island and imprisoned the enslaved in New Haven.
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Maria Sánchez, State Representative and Community Advocate
The first Latina elected to the Connecticut General Assembly started as a grassroots activist for Hartford’s Puerto Rican community.
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Connecticut’s Youngest City – Who Knew?
The city of West Haven, incorporated in 1961, is Connecticut’s youngest city but one of the state’s oldest settlements.
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The Ku Klux Klan in Connecticut
The white supremacist organization, the KKK, first organized in Connecticut during the 1920s, promoting themselves as part of the nativist movement.
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Joseph Alsop: Cunning Political Columnist of Mid-Century America
Joseph Wright Alsop was one of the country’s most well-known political journalists of the 20th century and was drawn into some of the most influential power circles in the world.
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The War Connecticut Hated
For most Connecticans, the War of 1812 was as much a war mounted by the federal government against New England as it was a conflict with Great Britain.
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Harwinton’s Sign has a Long History – Who Knew?
A sign has stood at the intersection of Route 4 and South Road in Harwinton for over 200 years.
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Ivory Cutting: The Rise and Decline of a Connecticut Industry
At one time, manufacturing facilities in the town of Deep River and village of Ivoryton in Essex processed up to 90 percent of the ivory imported into the US.
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Connecticut’s “The Legend of the Charter Oak”
Charter Oak Bridge. Charter Oak State College. Charter Oak Park. Why are so many places and things in Connecticut named after a tree?
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Julian Alden Weir: The “Heart” of American Impressionism
From Windham to Branchville, peaceful Connecticut locales provided Julian Alden Weir the inspiration to create hundreds of paintings and become one of America’s leading Impressionists.
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Rock and Roll vs. Racism
The State Theater in Hartford brought residents of all different backgrounds together in the 1950s and ’60s through the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll.
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Daring World War II Escape of a Bethany Soldier
A member of the glider service, Rollin Booth Fowler crash landed in Normandy during World War II and was captured, only to execute a daring and dramatic escape.
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Connecticut’s First Known Juneteenth Celebration in Norwich – Who Knew?
In 1989, the Norwich Branch of the NAACP organized the first official Juneteenth celebration in Connecticut—several other towns followed suit in subsequent years and decades.
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WDRC AM/FM – Connecticut’s Oldest Commercial Radio Station
WDRC is the oldest continuously operated commercial radio station in Connecticut that uses both AM and FM transmissions.
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Ferry Boats a Way of Life in Early Connecticut
From the 1600s on, Connecticut’s long coastline and river systems made ferry crossings a routine but sometime dangerous fact of life.
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Oldest Cavalry Unit – Who Knew?
The First Company Governor’s Horse Guards is the oldest, continuously active, mounted cavalry unit in the United States.
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Oldest Rose Garden – Who Knew?
The Elizabeth Park Rose Garden in Hartford is the oldest municipally operated rose garden in the country.
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Collections: Battle Flags
“Keep them, keep them, as long as there is a thread left,” said one soldier of the regimental flag for the 6th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry.
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Andover to Woodstock: How Connecticut Ended Up with 169 Towns
Religious mandates, the difficulties of colonial-era travel, and industrialization are a few of the forces that gave rise to the proliferation of towns in our state.
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Pan-Harmonicum Strikes a New Note for Puritan Worship in Lebanon
Musical instruments, once scorned as ungodly, found a place in Congregational services at the turn of the 19th century.
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Dynamic Tensions: Conservation and Development up to the 1920s
From indigenous practices to Progressive-era projects, changing attitudes toward natural resources have shaped and reshaped the state’s landscape.
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A Remarkable Signature – Who Knew?
Roger Sherman, Connecticut merchant, lawyer, and statesman, was the only person to sign all four documents of the American Revolution.
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Orange: Connecticut’s Candy Dispenser
Orange, Connecticut is home to one of the most revered, nostalgia-inspiring candy companies in the United States, PEZ.
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[Archived] The Legacy of David Miles Hotchkiss
David Miles Hotchkiss was an educator, abolitionist, and public servant who served the town of Prospect throughout his entire life.
Read Prospect’s David Miles Hotchkiss and the Free Soil Party
David Miles Hotchkiss was an educator, abolitionist, and public servant who served the town of Prospect throughout his entire life.
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Griswold v. Connecticut – Today in History: June 7
On June 7, 1965, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Griswold v. Connecticut.
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D-Day – Today in History: June 6
On the WWII homefront, night watchmen in Naugatuck’s factories heard the news of D-Day first.
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Hartford’s Nook Farm
This small enclave in the capital city’s west end became home to many of the 19th century’s most celebrated and creative personalities.
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