East Hartford, Connecticut

The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. The town includes the neighborhoods of Burnside and Hockanum. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 18.7 square miles (48.5 km²), of which 18.0 square miles (46.6 km²) is land and 0.73 square miles (1.9 km²), or 3.93%, is water.^[1]

History

When the Connecticut Valley became known to Europeans around 1631, it was inhabited by what were known as the River Tribes — a number of small clans of Native Americans living along the Great River and its tributaries. Of these tribes the Podunks occupied territory now lying in the towns of East Hartford and South Windsor, and numbered, by differing estimates, from sixty to two hundred bowmen. They were governed by two sachems, Waginacut and Arramamet, and were connected in some way with the Native Americans who lived across the Great River, in what is now Windsor. The region north of the Hockanum River was generally called Podunk; that south of the river, Hockanum; but these were no certain designations, and by some all the meadow along the Great River was called Hockanum.^[2]

In 1659, Thomas Burnham (1617–1688) purchased the tract of land now covered by the towns of South Windsor and East Hartford from Tantinomo, chief sachem of the Podunk Indians.^[2] Burnham lived on the land and later willed it to his nine children.^[3] The town of Hartford once included the land now occupied by the towns of East Hartford, Manchester, Bolton, Vernon, and West Hartford. In 1783, East Hartford became a separate town, which included Manchester in its city limits until 1823.^[2]

Demographics

As of the ^[4] of 2010, there were 51,252 people, 20,206 households, and 12,830 families residing in the town. The population density was 3000 people per square mile (1,062.2/km²). There were 21,328 housing units at an average density of 1,180.2 per square mile (455.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 38.4% White, 25.9% Black or African American, 0.03% Native American, 5.9% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 28.3% of the population.

There were 20,206 households out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 17.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the town the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $41,424, and the median income for a family was $50,540. Males had a median income of $36,823 versus $29,860 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,763. About 8.1% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.5% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 30, 2007^[5]
Party		Active Voters	Inactive Voters	Total Voters	Percentage
	Democratic	11,321	1,088	12,409	45.82%
	Republican	2,820	305	3,125	11.54%
	Unaffiliated	10,087	1,420	11,507	42.48%
	Minor Parties	38	6	44	0.16%
Total		24,266	2,819	27,085	100%

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1820	3,375	—
1850	2,497	—
1860	2,951	18.2%
1870	300	−89.8%
1880	3,500	1,066.7%
1890	4,455	27.3%
1900	6,406	43.8%
1910	8,138	27.0%
1920	11,648	43.1%
1930	17,125	47.0%
1940	18,615	8.7%
1950	29,933	60.8%
1960	43,977	46.9%
1970	57,583	30.9%
1980	52,563	−8.7%
1990	50,452	−4.0%
2000	49,575	−1.7%
2010	51,252	3.4%

Economy

East Hartford is home to the headquarters of Pratt & Whitney,^[6] part of the United Technologies conglomerate. The manufacturing plant takes up a significant amount of East Hartford's area, and at its peak, it employed tens of thousands of people; ^[7] however, currently, it only employs about 7,621.^[8] East Hartford also contains a Coca-Cola bottling plant, located on Main Street. The city is dotted with industrial and suburban office parks, and in the early 2000s, urban planners strategically situated a regional stadium, Rentschler Stadium (construction completed September 2003), and a hunting and camping focused department store, Cabela's, on the then vacant former Pratt & Whitney company airfield, Rentschler Field. ^[9]

Top employers

According to East Hartford's 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,^[10] the top employers in the city are:

#	Employer	# of Employees
1	Pratt and Whitney	9,000
2	Town of East Hartford	1,698
3	Goodwin College	720
4	Coca-Cola Refreshments	600
5	Bank of America	550
6	United Technologies Research Center	515
7	Riverside Health and Rehabilitation Center	438
8	Connecticut Bureau of Enterprise Systems and Technology	397
9	Cabela's	326
10	CSC Financial Services	297
11	Connecticut Natural Gas	263
12	Red Thread	175
13	Connecticut Judicial Branch	130
14	United Steel	127
15	Clearwater Paper	98

Education

Attractions

The East River Drive and Connecticut Boulevard areas, just east of the Connecticut River, contain extensive development, including car dealerships, medical offices, and light retail development. Notably, Goodwin College has begun to build a large campus on Riverside Drive. It will also develop blighted housing projects into student housing.

Wickham Park, located in East Hartford and Manchester, features Oriental gardens, fountains, open fields, woodlands, ponds, picnic areas, softball fields, and an aviary. The west side of the park offers a scenic view of East Hartford and the skyline of Hartford across the Connecticut River and is a popular site for weddings. It also has a very popular sledding hill in the winter.

Nearby, Rentschler Field Stadium is home of the University of Connecticut Huskies football team and the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League. The stadium has also been used for concerts by artists including The Rolling Stones.

Neighborhoods

Hanmer Street near Stone Academy

East Hartford is home to a diverse mix of neighborhoods. The northeast and southeast sections of the town are suburban and resemble neighboring towns like South Windsor and Glastonbury. People here tend to be middle class. In contrast, the older, more urban sections of the town are moderate and low income. Some of these neighborhoods include Hockanum in the southwest of the city, Burnside Avenue in the center of the city, Silver Lane also known as "The lane" and Mayberry Village. These neighborhoods are pleasant but also crime filled.

Notable residents

Milton Avery, artist
Lawrence Brainerd, businessman, abolitionist and United States senator from Vermont
Mary Cadorette, actress
Samuel Colt, founder of Colt Firearms
Francis Patrick Garvan, lawyer and longtime president of the Chemical Foundation
John A. Gurley, congressman from Ohio during the early part of the American Civil War
John Larson, current Congressman from Connecticut's 1st congressional district
Hiram N. Moulton, mayor of Madison, Wisconsin
Kevin Navayne, actor
Aaron Olmstead, sea captain, namesake of several cities in Ohio
Denison Olmsted, physicist and astronomer
Frederick Law Olmsted, renowned urban and suburban planner famous for many of the New York City parks and Stanford University's campus lived and studied for much of his youth between his primary residence in Hartford and his father's childhood home in East Hartford.
Gérard Ouellet, member of the Canadian House of Commons
Richard D. Veltri, mechanical engineer and Connecticut state legislator
Diane Venora, actress

References

1 2 3 "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): East Hartford town, Hartford County, Connecticut". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
1 2 3 Goodwin, Joseph Olcott (1879). East Hartford: Its History and Traditions. Hartford, Connecticut: Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Co.
↑ Burnham, Roderick Henry (1869). The Burnham Family; Or Genealogical Records of the Descendants of the Four. Hartford, Connecticut: Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Co.
↑ http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk
↑ "Registration and Party Enrollment Statistics as of October 30, 2007" (PDF). Connecticut Secretary of State. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
↑ "Contact Us." Pratt & Whitney. Retrieved on January 7, 2011. "Corporate Headquarters Pratt & Whitney 400 Main Street East Hartford, CT 06108."
↑ Chen, Xiangming and John Shemo. 2013. “Shifting Fortunes: Hartford’s Global and Regional Economic Dimensions.” Pp. 193-218 in Confronting Urban Legacy: Rediscovering Hartford and New England's Forgotten Cities. Xiangming Chen and Nick Bacon (eds). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
↑ Town of East Hartford CAFR
↑ Bacon, Nick. 2013. “Podunk after Pratt: Place and Placelessness in East Hartford, CT.” Pp. 46-64 in Confronting Urban Legacy: Rediscovering Hartford and New England's Forgotten Cities. Xiangming Chen and Nick Bacon (eds). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
↑ Town of East Hartford CAFR

External links

State of Connecticut

Hartford (capital)

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