Hartford

City (pop., 2000: 121,578), capital of Connecticut, U.S. Lying on the Connecticut River, it was settled by Dutch traders in the 1630s. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, which later served as a model for the U.S. Constitution, were adopted (1639) in Hartford. The city's insurance industry, its major business, dates from 1794, when the first Hartford fire insurance policy was issued. The statehouse (1796) was designed by Charles Bulfinch. Institutions of higher learning include Trinity College. The birthplace of J.P. Morgan, Hartford was also the home of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain, whose houses are preserved.