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Sights Overview

Hartford, the state capital, is also Connecticut's first European settlement, founded in 1633. America's insurance industry was born in Hartford in 1810 -- largely in an effort to protect the Connecticut River Valley's tremendously important shipping interests. Throughout the 19th century, insurance companies expanded their coverage to include fires, accidents, life, and (in 1898) automobiles.

Through the years, Hartford industries have included the inspection and packing of tobacco (a once-prominent industry in the northern river valley) and the manufacture of everything from bedsprings to artificial limbs, pool tables to coffins. Like many of Connecticut's cities, Hartford is hard at work revitalizing its downtown and surrounding areas.