Connecticut

B

Principal Cities

The largest cities in Connecticut are Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, and Waterbury. Bridgeport had a population in 2005 of 139,008 in the city and 903,291 in the metropolitan area in 2004. Hartford, the state capital, had a population of 124,397 in the city and 1,188,241 in the metropolitan area. New Haven had a population of 124,791 in the city and 846,766 in the metropolitan area. Stamford had 120,045 people, while Waterbury had 107,902 inhabitants in 2005. Other major cities are Norwalk, New Britain, and Danbury.

C

Religion

The Roman Catholic Church accounts for about one-half of all the church members in the state. Of the Protestant denominations the Baptists are most numerous, followed by the Episcopalians, and Methodists. Many Orthodox Christians live in the state. There are large Jewish communities in most of the state’s major cities.

Congregationalism was established by law as the official religion of the Connecticut and New Haven colonies when the colonies were founded in the 17th century. It remained the official religion until the 1818 constitution was adopted. The congregation of each church was its own governing body, and there was nearly complete independence of all outside ecclesiastical control. After 1708 the churches lost their form of self-government and were placed under the administration of the various counties.

V

Education and Cultural Institutions

A

Education

The early settlers quickly established schools. A free school was opened in New Haven in 1641, and a similar school was established in Hartford two years later. In 1650 a law was passed requiring every township in Connecticut with 50 or more families to appoint a town resident to teach children to read and write. Every town of 100 or more families was required to establish a grammar (or high) school.

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Connecticut has many nationally prominent private preparatory schools. The oldest such private school still in existence in the state is the Hopkins School, which was founded in New Haven in 1660. Another school more than a century old is the Gunnery, which is located in Washington. Of more recent origin are Choate Rosemary Hall, in Wallingford; the Hotchkiss School, in Lakeville; and the Pomfret School, in Pomfret. There are also many parochial preparatory schools.

School attendance in Connecticut is compulsory from ages 5 through 18. Some 13 percent of the state’s children attend private schools. In the 2002–2003 school year Connecticut spent $12,653 on each student’s education, compared to a national average of $9,299. There were 13.6 students for every teacher (the average class size for the country was 15.9 students). Of those older than 25 years of age in the state, 88.8 percent had a high school diploma, while the nation as a whole averaged 82.8 percent.

A

1

Higher Education

In 1701 the Collegiate School, what later was to become Yale University, one of the foremost educational institutions in the United States, was founded in Branford. Yale was opened in Killingworth (now Clinton) in 1702, and was later relocated to Saybrook (now Old Saybrook) and to Milford before finally being moved to New Haven, its present location, in 1716. Other noted schools are the University of Connecticut, in Storrs, founded as Storrs Agricultural School; Trinity College, in Hartford, founded as Washington College; the University of Hartford; the University of Bridgeport; Connecticut College and the United States Coast Guard Academy, both in New London; Wesleyan University, in Middletown; and Quinnipiac University, in Hamden. In 2004–2005 Connecticut had 22 public and 13 private institutions of higher education.

B

Libraries

Connecticut’s first public library was established in Durham in 1733. The state has 194 tax-supported library systems. Each year the libraries circulate an average of 8.9 books for every resident. Important library collections are maintained at the Yale University Library, the Connecticut State Library in Hartford, and the libraries of Trinity College, Wesleyan University, and the University of Connecticut.

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