Hartford Antique Maps

Antique maps of Hartford County show that it is distinguished as one of four original counties established in the state of Connecticut on May 10, 1666.  It is currently the second largest county in CT by land area, as well as the second most populous county in the state with nearly 900,000 residents (as of the 2010 census).  Hartford County is bordered by Litchfield County to the west, New Haven and Middlesex Counties to the south, Tolland County to the east, and Massachusetts to the north.

 When the county was established in 1666, it included the following towns: Farmington, Hartford, Middletown, Wethersfield, and Windsor.  Over the years, new towns have been added and some towns have been granted to neighboring counties.  Today, Hartford County features 29 cities and towns, and the most populous towns in the county include Hartford, East Hartford, West Harford, Manchester, and New Britain.  Hartford is the state capital of Connecticut.

 The Lower Connecticut River Valley was home to several Native American tribes, many of whom were Eastern Algonquin-speaking peoples.  In 1634, English colonists from the Massachusetts Bay colony began to spread into neighboring regions, including the Connecticut River Valley area in which Hartford County now sits.  These settlers brought the smallpox epidemic to the region, virtually eradicating native tribes while creating the Connecticut Colony, which was the basis for the town of Farmington.

 Hartford County was the birthplace or later residence of many famous people, perhaps most notably the author Mark Twain, who moved there in 1874 and continued to reside there for several years.  It was in Hartford that Twain penned some of his most famous works, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Cadastral or landowner maps of Hartford County show the ownership of both land and businesses during the late 1800’s.

 Harriet Beecher Stowe, who famously penned Uncle Tom's Cabin, was originally from neighboring Litchfield but settled in Hartford in the 1870s.  Both Mark Twain's house and Harriet Beecher Stowe's Nook Farm are now listed as historical sites and are open to the public.

 Other authors from the area include Suzanne Collins, who wrote The Hunger Games trilogy and Stephanie Meyer, who wrote the Twilight series.  Both were born in Hartford, CT.  Poet Wallace Stevens also lived in Hartford.

 This scenic New England area has also been the birthplace and/or residence of several noted entertainers.  Well-known actors from Hartford include Robert Ames, Brooke Burke, Jenna Dewan, Katherine Hepburn, Norman Lear, and Wavy Gravy, among others, and Hartford has also produced several notable musicians, such as Gene Pitney, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray, and the three Porcaro brothers from the rock band Toto.