Theme Week New England – Connecticut

Wednesday, 22 February 2017 - 12:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General
Reading Time:  6 minutes

Hartford - Connecticut State Capitol © flickr.com - jglazer75/cc-by-2.0

Hartford – Connecticut State Capitol © flickr.com – jglazer75/cc-by-2.0

Connecticut is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. The state is named for the Connecticut River, a major U.S. river that approximately bisects the state. The word “Connecticut” is derived from various anglicized spellings of an Algonquian word for “long tidal river”. The capital is Hartford. Other big cities are Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury, Norwalk, Danbury, New Britain, Meriden, Bristol, West Haven, Milford and Middletown. Connecticut is the third smallest state by area, the 29th most populous, and the fourth most densely populated of the 50 United States. It is known as the “Constitution State“, the “Nutmeg State”, the “Provisions State”, and the “Land of Steady Habits”. It was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States. Much of southern and western Connecticut (along with the majority of the state’s population) is part of the New York Metropolitan Area, as well as New York City and the five largest cities in New Jersey (Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, and Edison), which is widely referred to as the Tri-State area. Connecticut’s center of population is in Cheshire, which is also located within the Tri-State area.

Connecticut’s first European settlers were Dutch. They established a small, short-lived settlement in present-day Hartford at the confluence of the Park and Connecticut rivers, called Huys de Goede Hoop. Initially, half of Connecticut was a part of the Dutch colony, New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware rivers. The first major settlements were established in the 1630s by England. Thomas Hooker led a band of followers overland from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and founded what would become the Connecticut Colony; other settlers from Massachusetts founded the Saybrook Colony and the New Haven Colony. The Connecticut and New Haven Colonies established documents of Fundamental Orders, considered the first constitutions in North America. In 1662, the three colonies were merged under a royal charter, making Connecticut a crown colony. This colony was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. The Connecticut River, Thames River, and ports along the Long Island Sound have given Connecticut a strong maritime tradition, which continues today. The state also has a long history of hosting the financial services industry, including insurance companies in Hartford and hedge funds in Fairfield County.

Indian Summer in Connecticut © Yodokalk/cc-by-sa-3.0 Hartford - Connecticut State Capitol © flickr.com - jglazer75/cc-by-2.0 Bridgeport - Barnum Museum © Garcicar/cc-by-sa-3.0 Bridgeport - Black Rock Harbor Light © Ting Xu/cc-by-sa-4.0 Danbury - Main Street © Daniel Case/cc-by-sa-3.0 Hartford - Cheney Building © Daderot Milford Harbor from Pond Street © Fadein Milford © makemake/cc-by-sa-3.0 New Britain © Bmr1987/cc-by-3.0 New Heaven - Yales Old Campus © Namkota/cc-by-sa-4.0 New London - Bank Street © John Phelan/cc-by-sa-4.0 River Street in Downtown Milford © Fadein Western approach to Waterbury © Daniel Case/cc-by-sa-3.0 Willimantic - Former American Thread Company mill © Grendelkhan/cc-by-sa-3.0 Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford © Ragesoss/cc-by-sa-4.0
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Willimantic - Former American Thread Company mill © Grendelkhan/cc-by-sa-3.0
Oyster harvesting was historically an important source of income to towns along the Connecticut coastline. In the 19th century, oystering boomed in New Haven, Bridgeport, and Norwalk and achieved modest success in neighboring towns. In 1911, Connecticut’s oyster production reached its peak at nearly 25 million pounds of oyster meats. This was, at the time, higher than production in New York, Rhode Island, or Massachusetts. During this time, the Connecticut coast was known in the shellfishing industry as the oyster capital of the world. From before World War I until 1969, Connecticut laws restricted the right to harvest oysters in state-owned beds to sailing vessels. These laws prompted the construction of the oyster sloop style vessel that lasted well into the 20th century. The sloop Hope is believed to be the last oyster sloop built in Connecticut, completed in Greenwich in 1948.

Connecticut is rich with history, nature, art and beauty. While many people are drawn each year to Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casinos‘s, there is much more in this state. There are a number of beaches at the shore, state parks and forests throughout the state, and many smaller parks as well. Gillette Castle State Park in East Haddam is an excellent family destination. So is the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat Ride in Essex. Other places of interest are, among others, Hartford, Bridgeport, Danbury, Greenwich, Mystic, New Haven, New London, Norwalk and Waterbury.

Here you can find the complete Overview of all Theme Weeks.

Read more on Connecticut, Visit Connecticut, Yale University, Wikivoyage Connecticut and Wikipedia Connecticut. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.



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