Hartford is the capital of Connecticut, sitting in the north-central part of the state along the Connecticut River. Founded as a Dutch trading post and established as an English settlement in the 1630s by the Reverend Thomas Hooker, it grew into one of New England's most important cities — the insurance and financial capital of the region, a role it has held since the 19th century.
The city punches above its size culturally. The Wadsworth Atheneum, founded in 1842, is the oldest public art museum in the United States, with a collection spanning Hudson River School landscapes, impressionist paintings, and baroque masters. The Connecticut State Capitol, with its gilded dome, and the adjacent Old State House — where Gilbert Stuart's famous portrait of George Washington hangs — anchor the civic heart of downtown. Two of America's greatest writers, Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe, lived side by side in the Nook Farm neighbourhood, and both houses are open to visitors.
Hartford's parks are underrated. Bushnell Park, co-designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, has a beautifully restored antique carousel with a Wurlitzer organ. Elizabeth Park is home to one of the finest rose gardens in New England, best seen in late June when tens of thousands of roses are in bloom. In the South End, Colt Park and the remarkable blue-domed Colt Armory tell the story of Samuel Colt's industrial empire and utopian worker's village. The Ancient Burying Ground on Gold Street is Hartford's oldest surviving site, dating to 1640. On Farmington Avenue, the Cathedral of Saint Joseph has a modernist interior of extraordinary coloured glass.
The city makes a good base for exploring the Connecticut River Valley. Smaller towns like Wethersfield, Farmington, and New Britain — home to the Museum of American Art — are all within easy reach.