Mark Twain wrote here

Trip Start Jan 01, 1975

Trip End Jan 01, 2010

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Where I stayed

Huckleberry Inn Bed and Breakfast Sevierville

Flag of United States Hartford, Connecticut
Wednesday, May 29, 1991

I visited Hartford by myself on my Boston to Quebec trip in May 1991. I honestly don't remember much about it; I don't remember being struck by the garishness of the capitol as it appears in the pictures. Also I wasn't familiar with the history so didn't even look for the Charter Oak, sorry I missed that. I'd been to Albany and was coming south into western Massachusetts. I spent the night at a B&B in a town famous for its music festivals; then into Hartford and on to Mystic, Providence, Newport (I spent the night at a B&B there), and Cape Cod.

When I traveled to Troutbeck in November 1998 I came back through Connecticut but didn't go through Hartford, instead I went through Sharon to New Haven and Yale. This is a really lovely state, more rocks and trees than I would have thought and gorgeous coastline.

Facts:
Connecticut was the FIFTH state.
Date: January 9, 1788
State Nickname: Constitution State
Key Words: Charter, Oak, Newspaper, Twain, Webster

Have you ever heard of the Charter Oak? In 1662 the King gave a charter making the city independent of England. But the governor of New England tried to steal the charter! The citizens, who liked their independence, hid it inside a hollow tree, which became known as the Charter Oak.

Hartford has the oldest newspaper in the country - the Hartford Courant, which was first published in 1764. Mark Twain, aka Samuel Clemens, lived in Hartford when he wrote Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. You can visit his house today and see where his children played.

Noah Webster lived in Hartford too - he wrote the first dictionary, in 1828.

Hartford, Connecticut
Population 124,558
Elevation 50
Eastern time zone