Connecticut
Connecticut is the southernmost state in the northeastern region of the United States known as New England. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south.
- ABBREVIATION: CT
- NICKNAME: The Constitution State
- POPULATION: 3,596,080 (2013 est.)
- CAPITAL: Hartford
- STATE BIRD: Robin
- STATE FLOWER: Mountain Laurel
- AREA: 5,543 sq. mi.
- TIME ZONE: Eastern
- ENTERED UNION: Jan. 9, 1788
- ALTITUDE: High, 2,379 ft. At State border on south slope of Mount Frissell
- CLIMATE: Cold winters, warm summers; moderate rainfall.
In 1633, the Dutch purchased the area now occupied by Connecticut’s capital, Hartford, from the Pequot’s for one piece of heavy wool, six axes, six kettles, 18 knives, toys, a pair of shears and a sword blade. To this day, the old Indian crop of tobacco still covers much of the valley of the Connecticut River. But far more important are the factories which make Connecticut one of the nation’s prime manufacturing regions of such items as jet engines, helicopters, nuclear submarines, military weaponry, scientific instruments, rotary power tools, computers, batteries, and so much more.
Connecticut still symbolizes old New England in the white clapboard houses that ring its village greens, but, as a builder of nuclear submarines, it is also an integral part of the Atomic Age. Connecticut’s rural areas and small towns in the northeast and northwest corners of the state contrast sharply with its industrial cities, located along the coastal highways from the New York border to New London, then northward up the Connecticut River to Hartford.
On the waters of Long Island Sound to the south, the state boasts one of the most popular sailing centers of the nation. To many, however, Connecticut is best known as a sophisticated outpost of New York City, a bedroom community for commuting executives who work in finance, commerce, and the communications industry of the Big Apple.
FUN FACTS:
- The first fully operational steel mill in the U.S. opened in Simsbury in 1728.
- Old Newgate, in East Granby just north of Hartford, was the first state prison in America. Originally a copper mine, it was used to house Loyalists to the King during the Revolutionary War.
- Mark Twain lived in Hartford for many years. While there, he wrote several of his books, including Huckleberry Finn.
- Connecticut sent so many supplies to the Continental and Union Armies during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars that it became known as the ‘Provision State’.
- In 1901 Connecticut was the first state to pass an automobile law setting the maximum speed limit to 12 miles per hour in cities and 15 mph on country roads.
- Connecticut was first governed under a document called the Fundamental Orders, which later served as a model for the U.S. Constitution. For this reason, Connecticut is called the Constitution State.