Portal:Connecticut
The Connecticut Portal
Connecticut (/kəˈnɛtɪkət/ kə-NET-ik-ət) is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport. Connecticut lies between the major hubs of New York City and Boston along the Northeast Corridor, where the New York metropolitan area, which includes six of Connecticut's seven largest cities, extends well into the southwestern part of the state. Connecticut is the third-smallest state by area after Rhode Island and Delaware, and the 29th most populous with slightly more than 3.6 million residents as of 2020, ranking it fourth among the most densely populated U.S. states.
The state is named after the Connecticut River, the longest in New England which roughly bisects the state and drains into the Long Island Sound between the towns of Old Saybrook and Old Lyme. The name of the river is in turn derived from anglicized spellings of Quinnetuket, a Mohegan-Pequot word for "long tidal river". Before the arrival of the first European settlers, the region was inhabited by various Algonquian tribes. In 1633, the Dutch West India Company established a small, short-lived settlement called House of Hope in Hartford. Half of Connecticut was initially claimed by the Dutch colony New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, although the first major settlements were established by the English around the same time. Thomas Hooker led a band of followers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to form the Connecticut Colony, while other settlers from Massachusetts founded the Saybrook Colony and the New Haven Colony; both merged into the former by 1664.
Connecticut's official nickname, the "Constitution State", refers to the Fundamental Orders adopted by the Connecticut Colony in 1639, which is considered by some to be the first written constitution in Western history. As one of the Thirteen Colonies that rejected British rule during the American Revolution, Connecticut was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States. In 1787, Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, state delegates to the Constitutional Convention, proposed a compromise between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans; its bicameral structure for Congress, with a respectively proportional and equal representation of the states in the House of Representatives and Senate, was adopted and remains to this day. In January 1788, Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the Constitution. (Full article...)
The American Thermos Bottle Company Laurel Hill Plant, located in the Laurel Hill section of Norwich, Connecticut, in the United States, includes 11 contributing buildings and two other contributing structures. The original plant was built during 1912–13 and used a historic Italianate house as a company office building. The plant was the primary factory where Thermos brand vacuum flask bottles were manufactured from 1913 to 1984. The plant is historically significant to its connection to the Thermos Company and the history of Norwich. The complex is architecturally significant because it displays the adaptive use of industrial mill design to new industry. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Since its nomination, numerous changes and renovations have occurred. The surrounding area has seen the construction of condominiums and the large manufacturing building being renovated and re-purposed for loft-style apartments. Renovations on the northern end of the property would require the demolition of two buildings to construct the Integrated Day Charter School. Completed in 2008, a new two-story addition created an indoor gymnasium, kitchen, offices and a new lobby for the school. (Full article...)General images -
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State facts
- Nicknames: The Provisions State, The Land of Steady Habits, The Constitution State, The Nutmeg State
- Capital: Hartford
- Governor: Ned Lamont (D)
- Lieutenant Governor: Susan Bysiewicz (D)
- Secretary of State: Stephanie Thomas (D)
- Attorney General: William Tong (D)
- Senators: Chris Murphy (D), Richard Blumenthal (D)
- Representatives: Jahana Hayes (D), Jim Himes (D), Joe Courtney (D), John B. Larson (D), Rosa DeLauro (D)
- Total area: 5,543 mi2
- Land: 4,845 mi2
- Water: 698 mi2
- Highest elevation: 2,379 ft (Mount Frissell)
- Population 3,576,452 (2015 est)
- Admission to the Union: January 9, 1788 (5th)
State symbols:
- Animal: Sperm whale
- Bird: American Robin
- Fish: American Shad
- Flower: Mountain Laurel
- Fossil: Dinosaur Track
- Insect: European Praying Mantis
- Ship: USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
- Songs: Yankee Doodle
- Tree: Charter Oak
- Mineral: Almandine
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The New Haven Line is a 72.7 mi (117.0 km) commuter rail line operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. states of New York and Connecticut. Running from New Haven, Connecticut, to New York City, the New Haven Line joins the Harlem Line in Mount Vernon, New York, and continues south to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The New Haven Line carries 125,000 passengers every weekday and 39 million passengers a year. The busiest intermediate station is Stamford, with 8.4 million passengers, or 21% of the line's ridership.
The line was originally part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, forming the southern leg of the New Haven's main line. It is colored red on Metro-North timetables and system maps, and stations on the line have red trim. The red color-coding is a nod to the red paint used in the New Haven's paint scheme for much of the last decade of its history. The section from Grand Central to the New York-Connecticut border is owned by Metro-North and the section from the state line to New Haven is owned by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT). From west to east in Connecticut, three branches split off: the New Canaan Branch, Danbury Branch, and Waterbury Branch, all owned by CTDOT. (Full article...)Did you know? -
- ... that the Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River Railroad, created as an alternative to the New Haven Railroad, was absorbed into the New Haven after just 11 years?
- ... that New Haven, Connecticut, was home to the world's first commercial telephone exchange?
- ... that the directors of the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad stole back the railroad from a bankrupt lessee?
- ... that a Connecticut radio station left the FM band for good after it was out of service for a week and only one person wrote a letter to complain?
- ... that Darien, Connecticut, was once home to a train station built inside a cemetery?
- ... that after her father received hospice care, Connecticut state legislator Claudia Powers introduced bills to include hospice under Medicare?
In the news
- February 10: Disney to shut down Blue Sky Studios, animation studio behind 'Ice Age'
- October 17: Hundreds arrested for 'dark web' child porn by international task force
- October 3: World War II era plane crashes in Connecticut, US, killing at least seven
- February 21: Sixteen states sue U.S. President Trump to stop declaration of emergency for border wall
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