Elizabeth Jarvis Colt commissioned the Church of the Good Shepherd in 1866 as a monument to her husband. The adjacent parish house was built in 1895 and is dedicated to the memory of her son. The ensemble is built in High Victorian Gothic style, and architectural features include a variety of gun parts, such as bullet molds, gun sights, and cylinders--making it likely the only church in the world with a gun motif.

On July 6, 1944, Hartford was the scene of one of the worst fire disasters in the history of the United States, which claimed the lives of 168 people and injured 700 more. It occurred at a matinee performance of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus on Barbour Street in the city's north end and became known as the Hartford Circus Fire.

Hartford was the setting for the Amy Brenneman legal drama Judging Amy, which aired on CBS from 1999 to 2005. Unfortunately for Hartford, the show was actually filmed in Pasadena, California.

Inside Hartford's Horace Bushnell Memorial Hall, you'll find a 187-by-40-foot Art Deco oil painting. It is the largest hand-painted ceiling mural in the United States. Artist Barry Faulkner and a staff of Prix de Rome artists created this 1929 masterpiece which features the Muse of Drama as its centerpiece.

A stone arch bridge composed of nine spans, the Bulkeley Bridge carries Interstate 84, U.S. Route 6, and U.S. Route 44 across the river, connecting Hartford to East Hartford.

Hartford was the richest city in the United States for several decades following the American Civil War. Today, it is one of the poorest cities in the U.S., with 3 out of every 10 families living below the poverty line.