New Haven

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Puritans, led by Theophilus Eaton and John Davenport founded New Haven between 1637 and 1638. New Haven was one of the first planned communities in America and it was the chief town of a colony that later included Milford, Guilford, Stamford, Branford and Southold on Long Island. The community's government was theocratic. Religion was a test for citizenship and life was regulated by strict rules, known as the blue laws. These laws were called 'blue laws' after the blue paper on which they were printed. In 1665 the colony was reluctantly united with Connecticut. New Haven was joint state capital with Hartford from 1701 to 1875, after which Hartford became the sole capital.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, New Haven was a thriving port city. New Haven became famous for the manufacture of firearms, hardware, coaches and carriages. In the American Revolution, the city was raided by a British and Tory force and during the War of 1812, New Haven's port was blockaded. The world's first commercial telephone exchange was established in New Haven in 1879.

Since the 1950's, New Haven has received national attention for its pioneering urban renewal projects. The first antipoverty program in the United States was started there in 1962. Despite these improvements, the city suffered a serious race riot in 1967. New Haven's manufacturing-based economy has since declined and by 1990, manufacturing employed less than 20% of city's workforce.

The production of firearms, ammunition, clocks, watches, tools, textiles, rubber and paper products are still important to New Haven's economy. The city also serves as a major port for petroleum products. New Haven is seat of Yale University and its allied institutions. Albertus Magnus College and Southern Connecticut State University are also there.

New Haven is centered on a large public green that dates from 1680. In that green zone you will find three churches that were built between 1812 and 1816. Center Church and United Church are both Congregational, while Trinity Church is Episcopal. Many old buildings have been preserved and there is a lovely historic district in the city. New Haven's best-known landmarks are the two trap-rock cliffs of East Rock and West Rock, which includes the Judges' Cave. American lexicographer and philologist Noah Webster and Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin, a machine for separating cotton fibers from the seeds, both lived in New Haven and are buried there.

There are many hotels and restaurants in New Haven. The city is in the south of Connecticut, there where the Quinnipiac and other small rivers enter Long Island Sound. It is 55 km southwest from Hartford and 440 km northeast from Washington D.C.