Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #5 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it
With 40% of its homes built before 1940 and 45 historic districts holding 4,769 contributing buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, the census since 1790, and every listing on the Register.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hartford is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #5 of 155 in Connecticut. All 2 inputs put Hartford near the top nationally; its National Register listings ranks highest.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Hartford ranks #6 on History.
Connecticut towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Connecticut town has 73.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hartford’s 394 sits above most of its state (90% of Connecticut towns have fewer) while its 4,769 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 8 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
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★ LandmarkNational Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hartford. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hartford.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hartford.
Various Native American tribes lived in or around Hartford, all Algonquian peoples. These included the Podunks, mostly east of the Connecticut River; the Poquonocks north and west of Hartford; the Massacoes in the Simsbury area; the Tunxis tribe in West Hartford and Farmington; the Wangunks to the south; and the Saukiog in Hartford itself.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Hartford, cut from the printed page as they were published.
surplus, etc., of Hartford's banks for the "ears 1891 and 1912 and the increases during this period. It shows that while the banks of the City of Hartford have practically retained the same capital stock as possessed in 1891, the surpluses have been materially increased which proves that the banking progress here is the best in the country.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
sion foot bridge across the Kennebec River at Waterville, Me. He was chief draftsman in designing the steel plate-girder bridge, East Hartford, which cost $120,000, and on all the preliminary studies for the bridge which now connects East Hartford and Hartford, one of the world's greatest bridges. He acted as BIRDSEYE VIEW OF LOWER HARTFORD WITH CONNECTICUT
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The East Hartford Church was founded about this time. The consent of the Hartford societies was first had, with the proviso that all west side land and such on the east side as was owned by west-siders should contribute to the Hartford churches, but the court in 1702, ordered that all persons on the east side should pay to the society there.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
remove to the Connecticut Valley, where Deacon Wm. Goodwin and Rev. Wm. Stone, as trustees, had secured from the Indians a tract of land embracing the present city of Hartford with the adjoining towns of East Hartford, Manchester and West Hartford and Farmington. In the month of May 1636 the entire Hooker Company set out for this destination, through the tractless wilderness, driving their cattle before them. A division of land was made In what is now the center
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltConnecticut Statehouse is builtBuiltHenry Barnard House is built
In the archiveFrancischarter
Born hereJ. P. Morgan is born here
In the archiveView of the City of Hartford Connecticut by William Havell
BuiltWadsworth Atheneum is builtBuiltMark Twain House is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereBarbara McClintock is born here
Born hereKatharine Hepburn is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1810s to the 1840s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 43Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hartford’s page.
Retake this view · +15Peaked at 177,397 in 1950; 121,054 people lived here in 2020.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hartford’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Hartford’s post office has been open since 1773. Another post office, Parkville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Hartford is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #5 of 155 in Connecticut. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
146 listings, 8 of them National Historic Landmarks: 98 buildings, among them the Connecticut Statehouse (a National Historic Landmark since 1960), 46 historic districts with 4,309 contributing buildings, 2 sites, and 2 structures. 4,769 historic buildings in all.
40% of Hartford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town; the median home was built in 1951.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (148), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1841
c. 1846
c. 1849