Connecticut

C

Museums

The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, in Hartford, is considered one of the finest art museums in the United States. Other art museums in Connecticut are the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, in New London; the Slater Museum, at the Norwich Free Academy in Norwich; the Yale University Art Gallery, in New Haven; and the New Britain Museum of American Art, in New Britain. The Hill-Stead Museum, in Farmington, has a major art collection, and there are special historical art collections in Hartford, Waterbury, and many other cities. Among the other outstanding museums in Connecticut are Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History and the Yale Center for British Art. The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, in Mashantucket, includes innovative interpretive displays and re-creations that depict the cultural heritage of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

D

Music and Theater

Hartford, New Haven, and other cities maintain symphony orchestras, and there are choral groups in many cities. The school of music at Yale University is a leader in American musical education.

There is a great interest in the theater in Connecticut. The Goodspeed Opera House, in East Haddam, puts on several productions a year. Austin Arts Center at Trinity College features plays and musicals annually. The Long Wharf Theatre and the Yale Repertory Theatre, both in New Haven, are nationally known. Some 3,000 productions have had their world or American premieres at the Shubert Theater in New Haven, also known as the Shubert Performing Arts Center. Performances such as South Pacific, Oklahoma, and A Streetcar Named Desire opened at the Shubert before being staged for Broadway audiences. The theater continues to be a center for the region’s cultural life, hosting first-run Broadway shows, opera, dance, family entertainment, and cabaret attractions.

VI

Recreation and Places of Interest

Connecticut has numerous recreational facilities. Swimming, boating, and other water sports are popular along the coastal beaches and at lakes. Facilities for hiking, camping, and other activities are provided in a statewide system of public parks and forests, and skiing and other winter sports are popular. The Connecticut Forest and Park Association, a private organization, maintains miles of hiking trails.

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A

National Sites

American Impressionist painter J. Alden Weir summered at what is now Weir Farm National Historic Site. The 24-hectare (60-acre) park includes Weir’s home, studio, barns and outbuildings, a visitor center, and a second studio built by sculptor Mahonri Young. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail traverses the northwest corner of the state.

B

State Parks and Forests

There are many state parks in Connecticut as well as dozens of parks and historical sites maintained by municipalities. While not all of the state’s parks are developed, there are recreational facilities in every region. Hammonasset Beach State Park is the largest of the parks that border the shore of Long Island Sound. On a clear day, a person can see four states from Heublein Tower at Talcott Mountain State Park in the heart of the Farmington River Valley. Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park preserves the site where in 1781 British troops massacred American troops. A stair pathway adjacent the Kent Falls makes this state park a popular picnic site. Dinosaur tracks about 185 million years old are housed under a giant geodesic dome at the Dinosaur State Park, in Rocky Hill. Pine Knob Loop Trail at Housatonic Meadows State Park joins the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

Most of Connecticut’s state forests do not permit camping but almost all are open for fishing, hiking, and other daytime activities.

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