William Dalrymple (historian)

The Connecticut Portal

Connecticut (/kəˈnɛtɪkət/ ^ⓘ kə-NET-ih-kət) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport. Connecticut lies between the major hubs of New York City and Boston along the Northeast Corridor, where the New York-Newark Combined Statistical Area, which includes four of Connecticut's seven largest cities, extends into the southwestern part of the state. Connecticut is the third-smallest state by area after Rhode Island and Delaware, and the 29th most populous with more than 3.6 million residents as of 2024, ranking it fourth among the most densely populated U.S. states.

The state is named after the Connecticut River, the longest in New England, which roughly bisects the state and drains into the Long Island Sound between the towns of Old Saybrook and Old Lyme. The name of the river is in turn derived from anglicized spellings of Quinnetuket, a Mohegan-Pequot word for "long tidal river". Before the arrival of the first European settlers, the region was inhabited by various Algonquian tribes. In 1633, the Dutch West India Company established a small, short-lived settlement called House of Hope in Hartford. Half of Connecticut was initially claimed by the Dutch colony New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, although the first major settlements were established by the English around the same time. Thomas Hooker led a band of followers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to form the Connecticut Colony, while other settlers from Massachusetts founded the Saybrook Colony and the New Haven Colony; both had merged into the first by 1664.

Connecticut's official nickname, the "Constitution State", refers to the Fundamental Orders adopted by the Connecticut Colony in 1639, which is considered by some to be the first written constitution in Western history. As one of the Thirteen Colonies that rejected British rule during the American Revolution, Connecticut was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States. In 1787, Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, state delegates to the Constitutional Convention, proposed a compromise between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans; its bicameral structure for Congress, with a respectively proportional and equal representation of the states in the House of Representatives and Senate, was adopted and remains to this day. In January 1788, Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the Constitution. (Full article...)

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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

The former Anshei Israel Synagogue

Anshei Israel Synagogue is an historic former Orthodox Jewish synagogue building, located at 142 Newent Road, (CT 138), in Lisbon, Connecticut, in the United States. The synagogue was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 as part of a multiple property listing of fifteen historic synagogues in Connecticut.

The Orthodox congregation was founded with 15 families and constructed the synagogue in 1936. It was built by George Allen & Sons. The interior is a single room that is lined with five benches before the sacred ark. The congregation's membership dwindled throughout the 1940s and 1950s, limiting the services to holidays before finally closing in the early 1980s. Rules in the congregation were not as strictly enforced as in the Old World, as there was no curtain to separate the sexes and distant members were allowed to drive part of the way to its services. The Town of Lisbon took ownership of the property in the 1980s. The synagogue is currently maintained by the Lisbon Historical Society. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Connecticut-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Governor Jonathan Trumbull (from History of Connecticut)
Image 2Bridgeport (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 3School zones generally have a speed limit of 25 mph. (from Transportation in Connecticut)
Image 4Stamford (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 51895 map from Rand McNally (from History of Connecticut)
Image 6Norwich (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 7The New Haven system (from History of Connecticut)
Image 8The Charter Oak in Hartford (from History of Connecticut)
Image 9Bristol (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 10Map showing the Connecticut, New Haven, and Saybrook colonies and the CT-NY dispute (from History of Connecticut)
Image 11Meriden (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 12A 1942 advertisement for recreational lodging in Goshen stating that the facility is not a hotel and caters to Christian clientele specifically. (from History of Connecticut)
Image 13Danbury (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 14New Haven (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 15A map showing Connecticut's towns in 1770. (from History of Connecticut)
Image 16A map showing Connecticut's land claims. (from History of Connecticut)
Image 17Ansonia (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 18Middletown (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 19Derby (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 20Winsted (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 21Pequot War of 1637 (from History of Connecticut)
Image 22Norwalk (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 23New London (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 24Groton (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 25Waterbury (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 26Milford (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 27West Haven (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 28Torrington (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 29Some bridges on the Merritt Parkway were constructed by workers paid by the US Works Progress Administration (from History of Connecticut)
Image 30Shelton (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 31Map of Connecticut showing major highways. (from Transportation in Connecticut)
Image 32New Britain (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 33Hartford (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 34A Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line train at Stamford. (from Transportation in Connecticut)

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Credit: User:2112guy

The East Peak of the Hanging Hills in Meriden, Connecticut

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State facts

Nicknames: The Provisions State, The Land of Steady Habits, The Constitution State, The Nutmeg State
Capital: Hartford
Governor: Ned Lamont (D)
Lieutenant Governor: Susan Bysiewicz (D)
Secretary of State: Stephanie Thomas (D)
Attorney General: William Tong (D)

Senators: Chris Murphy (D), Richard Blumenthal (D)
Representatives: Jahana Hayes (D), Jim Himes (D), Joe Courtney (D), John B. Larson (D), Rosa DeLauro (D)

Total area: 5,543 mi²
- Land: 4,845 mi²
- Water: 698 mi²
Highest elevation: 2,379 ft (Mount Frissell)

Population 3,576,452 (2015 est)
Admission to the Union: January 9, 1788 (5^th)

State symbols:

Animal: Sperm whale
Bird: American Robin
Fish: American Shad
Flower: Mountain Laurel
Fossil: Dinosaur Track
Insect: European Praying Mantis
Ship: USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
Songs: Yankee Doodle
Tree: Charter Oak
Mineral: Almandine

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Waterbury skyline from the west, with Union Station clock tower at left

Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 Census. The city is 33 miles (53 km) southwest of Hartford and 77 miles (124 km) northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the largest city in the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region and second-largest city in New Haven County.

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Waterbury had large industrial interests and was the leading center in the United States for the manufacture of brassware (including castings and finishings), as reflected in the nickname the "Brass City" and the city's motto Quid Aere Perennius? ("What Is More Lasting Than Brass?"). It was also noted for the manufacture of watches and clocks (Timex). (Full article...)

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... that a Connecticut TV station was dedicated to the state's first female governor, Ella Grasso, whose son was a minority owner?
... that the Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River Railroad, created as an alternative to the New Haven Railroad, was absorbed into the New Haven after just 11 years?
... that a Connecticut radio station left the FM band for good after it was out of service for a week and only one person wrote a letter to complain?
... that Cora Slocomb di Brazza designed the peace flag adopted by the International Council of Women, and her mother Abby Day Slocomb designed the Connecticut state flag?
... that the directors of the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad stole back the railroad from a bankrupt lessee?
... that in 2023, Ralph Nader founded the newspaper Winsted Citizen in his hometown of Winsted, Connecticut, where he delivered papers as a boy?

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WikiProject Connecticut • WikiProject Connecticut routes • WikiProject UCONN

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Credit: User:Versageek

New Haven, Connecticut skyline from Lighthouse Point

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State of Connecticut
Hartford (capital)
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