Connecticut

I

Introduction

Connecticut, one of the six New England states, in the northeastern United States. Connecticut was the fifth of the original 13 states ratifying the Constitution of the United States on January 9, 1788, and it played an important role in the development of the United States. Settlement in Connecticut dates from the 1630s and many of the state’s modern towns and cities can trace their origins back to the 17th or 18th century. Hartford is the capital of Connecticut and the center of the state’s largest metropolitan area. Bridgeport is the state’s largest city.

Rural Connecticut retains much of the charm of colonial New England. It is an area of churches with white steeples, charming colonial homes that face elm-shaded streets, and village greens where once, perhaps, the local militia trained for the Continental Army. However, modern Connecticut is principally an urban and suburban residential state. Many of the nation’s early industrial advances, including the development of mass production, first took place in Connecticut. Cities and towns in the state were identified by the products they produced—hats in Danbury, brass in Waterbury, thread in Colchester. Although the economy today is decreasing its reliance on manufacturing, becoming instead more diverse and service-based, the state remains an important producer of such products as electronic equipment, aircraft engines, and spacecraft equipment.

The name Connecticut is probably derived from a Native American word, Quinnehtukqut, meaning “beside the long tidal river.” The state’s official nickname, adopted in 1959, is the Constitution State, chosen to commemorate the colony’s adoption in 1639 of the Fundamental Orders, sometimes regarded as the first written constitution. Among its numerous unofficial nicknames are the Nutmeg State, an unflattering reference to the reputed attempts of Yankee peddlers from Connecticut to sell wooden nutmegs in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the Arsenal of the Nation, a reference to Connecticut’s role as a major supplier of weapons in the American Revolution (1775-1783) and other wars.

II

Physical Geography

Connecticut is the third smallest state of the Union, with an area of only 14,356 sq km (5,543 sq mi), including 417 sq km (161 sq mi) of inland water and 1,393 sq km (538 sq mi) of coastal water over which it has jurisdiction. Connecticut is roughly rectangular in shape, except for a narrow strip of land in the southwest that projects westward to within about 19 km (about 12 mi) of New York City. The state has a maximum distance from east to west of 163 km (101 mi) and a greatest distance north to south of 117 km (73 mi). The mean elevation of Connecticut is approximately 150 m (500 ft).

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A

Natural Regions

Connecticut can be divided into four major natural regions. They are the Taconic Range; the New England Highland, or Upland, consisting of the Eastern Highland and the Western Highland; the Connecticut Valley Lowland; and the Seaboard Lowland, all of which form part of the New England province, which in turn forms part of the Appalachian Region.

In the northwest the Connecticut portion of the Taconic Range forms the highest section of the state. From there the land slopes gradually southeastward across the long forested ridges and rolling hills of the Eastern and Western highlands to the narrow Seaboard Lowland along Long Island Sound.

The Taconic Range, or Taconics, occupy only a small area in Connecticut but include some of the wildest and most rugged parts of the state. Much of the region is forested. The principal ranges extend from northeast to southwest and in many places rise to more than 600 m (2,000 ft) above sea level. On the southern slope of Mount Frissell, which lies on the Massachusetts state line, is Connecticut’s highest point, at 725 m (2,380 ft) above sea level.

The New England Highland, or Upland, can be divided into the Western Highland and the Eastern Highland. In the Western Highland, a rugged and rocky area, the principal ranges are the Litchfield Hills, which form a southward continuation of the Berkshire Hills in Massachusetts, and the Norfolk Hills. The Housatonic River and its tributaries, which drain most of the Western Highland, flow southward in deep river valleys. Forests and small patches of woodland cover much of this area.

The Eastern Highland is a region of low, wooded hills. The highest points are little more than 300 m (1,000 ft) above sea level in the north and less than 60 m (200 ft) in the south, where the highland merges with the Seaboard Lowland. Granites, schists, and other hard, ancient rocks frequently show through the thin soil cover, and piles of boulders and stones, left by retreating glaciers, give the wooded Eastern Highland an often rocky and rugged appearance.

The Connecticut Valley Lowland is a broad lowland, which lies between the Eastern and Western highlands. The lowland is formed of reddish sandstones and shales, which are less resistant than the crystalline rock found on either side and consequently have been worn down to form low-lying land. The principal river is the Connecticut, which occupies the lowland as far south as Middletown. There the river turns southeastward across the Eastern Highland. The southern part of the lowland is drained principally by the Quinnipiac River. Because the Connecticut River leaves the lowlands, the Connecticut Valley Lowland is not identical with the Connecticut River valley.

Within the sandstones of the lowland are beds of trap, or traprock, which form prominent, steep-sided ridges. The ridges are generally forested and extend across the lowland in a north-south direction.

The Seaboard Lowland is a narrow strip of land between the Eastern and Western highlands and the coast. It is broken near New Haven by the southern Connecticut Valley Lowland. Most of the region is less than 150 m (500 ft) above sea level.

B

Rivers and Lakes

The three major rivers draining Connecticut flow southward to Long Island Sound. The Connecticut River, New England’s longest river, flows southward from Massachusetts to enter Long Island Sound at Old Saybrook. The mouth of the river valley is a deep estuary about 30 km (about 20 mi) long. The Housatonic River, the only other river that crosses the entire breadth of the state, enters Connecticut in the northwest, near Canaan, and then winds across the Western Highland to the sound. Its principal tributary is the Naugatuck, which joins the main stream at Derby. The Thames River flows into Long Island Sound at New London. A long tidal estuary, the Thames forms the mouth of the Yantic and Shetucket rivers. Those two rivers, together with the Quinebaug, the Willimantic, and the Natchaug, which are tributaries of the Shetucket, are the principal rivers of the Eastern Highland. In addition, numerous short streams, unrelated to the three major river systems, drain the south. Connecticut has about 6,000 lakes and ponds. The largest, Lake Candlewood in the Western Highland, is a reservoir that covers only 23 sq km (9 sq mi). The largest natural lake, Bantam Lake, also in the Western Highland, covers less than 5 sq km (2 sq mi).