East Hartford, Connecticut, USA
2006 - East Hartford

"East Hartford was settled in 1639 when Podunk Indians went to Massachusetts to solicit settlers to come to the Connecticut River Valley.
For more than a century, the land east of the river was part of Hartford. The town was incorporated in 1783. The first town meeting was Dec. 9 of that year, in a meetinghouse near where Main and Pitkin streets now meet. East Hartford, consisting of 18.7 square miles, has a population of 49,575. The town was connected by bridge to Hartford in about 1810.

The Hockanum River passes through the middle of the town from east to west, feeding into the Connecticut River.

The town has a nine-member council that sets the budget and passes ordinances and a mayor who has the power to appoint personnel.

Pratt & Whitney, part of United Technologies Corp., is the largest company and employer in town.

The Edward E. King Museum features exhibits on the town's aviation and tobacco industries, and the town also is home to the 1761 Huguenot House Museum, the 1821 Goodwin School House and the Hockanum Hose Co. Fire Museum. In addition, Center Cemetery, now on the National Register of Historic Places, features extensive examples of early American stonework.

Much of the town's development is along the banks of the Connecticut River, where a blend of parks, commercial buildings, high-rise residential buildings and other public attractions has taken shape."


Staff
The Hartford Courant
August 16, 2006



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