Portal:Connecticut
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 metropolitan 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 environmental history is shaped by Indigenous land stewardship, colonial displacement, industrial development, and modern environmental regulation. The Pequot and Mohegan peoples maintained sustainable relationships with the land prior to colonization, which were later disrupted by forced removal and legal restrictions on land and sovereignty. Industrial growth in the 19th and 20th centuries concentrated manufacturing along river systems, contributing to pollution and environmental inequality. In response, modern state and federal environmental policies have been developed to regulate pollution and protect natural resources. (Full article...)
Recognized content - 
Greens Ledge Lighthouse (also known as Greens Ledge Light, or Rowayton Lighthouse) is a historic offshore lighthouse in the western Long Island Sound near Norwalk, Connecticut and Darien, Connecticut. It is one of 33 sparkplug lighthouses still in existence in the United States and remains an active aid to navigation. It sits in ten feet of water on the west end of Greens Ledge, a shallow underwater reef that runs a mile west of Sheffield Island and is roughly a mile south of the entrance to Five Mile River at Rowayton. Completed in 1902 by the Philadelphia Construction Company, the cast-iron structure is approximately 90 feet tall including roughly 15 feet of the submerged caisson. In 1933, more than 30,000 tons of rocks from the excavation of Radio City Music Hall were added to the riprap foundation. The light was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Greens Ledge Lighthouse on May 29, 1990.
In 2017, Greens Ledge was acquired from the US Government by the Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization established by a group of local residents with the mission of restoring and preserving the lighthouse. The acquisition was made through a founding donation by The Pettee Family and restoration began in June 2018 to address the critical structural deficiencies of the lighthouse. (Full article...)
General images -
A map showing Connecticut's towns in 1770. (from History of Connecticut)
Some bridges on the Merritt Parkway were constructed by workers paid by the US Works Progress Administration (from History of Connecticut)
1895 map from Rand McNally (from History of Connecticut)
Police arrive at Sandy Hook Elementary, after the shooting (from History of Connecticut)
Map showing the Connecticut, New Haven, and Saybrook colonies and the CT-NY dispute (from History of Connecticut)
A map of Connecticut featuring highways and major routes alongside airports, buses, ferries, and railways. (from Transportation in Connecticut)
The New Haven system (from History of Connecticut)
The March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Reservoir Road in Newtown. Few roads surpassed this quality in Connecticut until the mid-1800s. (from Transportation in Connecticut)
The cover of the first timetable for Ridgefield to Branchville bus services (from Transportation in Connecticut)
A 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)
Pequot War of 1637 (from History of Connecticut)
Governor Jonathan Trumbull (from History of Connecticut)
The Charter Oak in Hartford (from History of Connecticut)
School zones generally have a speed limit of 25 mph. (from Transportation in Connecticut)
A map showing Connecticut's land claims. (from History of 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 (5th)
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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The Danbury and Norwalk Railroad, chartered in 1836 as the Fairfield County Railroad, was an independent American railroad that operated between the cities of Danbury and Norwalk, Connecticut from 1852 until its absorption by the Housatonic Railroad in 1886. The right of way established by the D&N continues in operation and is now the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line of the Metro-North Railroad. (Full article...)
Did you know? -
- ... that the Hotel Marcel has been called both Connecticut's ugliest building and one of New England's best hotels?
- ... that the Saybrook Colony was sold to Connecticut for an annual payment of 180 pounds of equal quantities of wheat, peas, and either rye or barley?
- ... that the Connecticut studio of the sculptor of Mount Rushmore featured a massive stone fireplace that could hold logs up to 10 feet (3.0 m) in length?
- ... that the Connecticut studio of the sculptor of Mount Rushmore featured a massive stone fireplace that could hold logs up to 10 feet (3.0 m) in length?
- ... that televangelist Gene Scott went 65 hours without sleep when he barricaded himself in the studios of his Connecticut TV station to protest an order to pay taxes?
- ... that more than 90 percent of Connecticut voters in 1876 agreed to repeal the requirement of being white to vote?
Connecticut News
- July 17, 2026 – Wildfires in 2026
- The U.S. state of Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection deploys firefighters to assist with wildfire efforts in Quebec, Canada. (CT.Gov) (WVIT)
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WikiProject Connecticut • WikiProject Connecticut routes • WikiProject UCONN
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