Connecticut

For other uses, see Connecticut .

Connecticut is the southernmost state in the New England region of the United States. Connecticut is also often grouped along with New York and New Jersey as the Tri-State area. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital city is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport. The state is named after the Connecticut River, a major U.S. river that approximately bisects the state. The word "Connecticut" is derived from various anglicized spellings of an Algonquian word for "long tidal river".

Connecticut is the third smallest state by area, the 29th most populous, and the fourth most densely populated of the 50 United States. It is known as the "Constitution State", the "Nutmeg State", the "Provisions State", and the "Land of Steady Habits". It was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States. Much of southern and western Connecticut (along with the majority of the state's population) is part of the New York metropolitan area: three of Connecticut's eight counties are statistically included in the New York City combined statistical area, which is widely referred to as the Tri-State area. Connecticut's center of population is in Cheshire, New Haven County, which is also located within the Tri-State area.

Connecticut's first European settlers were Dutch. They established a small, short-lived settlement in present-day Hartford at the confluence of the Park and Connecticut rivers, called Huys de Goede Hoop. Initially, half of Connecticut was a part of the Dutch colony, New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware rivers. The first major settlements were established in the 1630s by England. Thomas Hooker led a band of followers overland from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and founded what would become the Connecticut Colony; other settlers from Massachusetts founded the Saybrook Colony and the New Haven Colony. The Connecticut and New Haven Colonies established documents of Fundamental Orders, considered the first constitutions in North America. In 1662, the three colonies were merged under a royal charter, making Connecticut a crown colony. This colony was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution.

The Connecticut River, Thames River, and ports along the Long Island Sound have given Connecticut a strong maritime tradition, which continues today. The state also has a long history of hosting the financial services industry, including insurance companies in Hartford and hedge funds in Fairfield County. As of the 2010 Census, Connecticut features the highest per-capita income, Human Development Index (0.962), and median household income in the United States.

Geography

Further information: Geology of Connecticut and Geology of New England

Connecticut is bordered on the south by Long Island Sound, on the west by New York, on the north by Massachusetts, and on the east by Rhode Island. The state capital and third largest city is Hartford, and other major cities and towns (by population) include Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury, Norwalk, Danbury, New Britain, Greenwich and Bristol. Connecticut is slightly larger than the country of Montenegro. There are 169 incorporated towns in Connecticut.

The highest peak in Connecticut is Bear Mountain in Salisbury in the northwest corner of the state. The highest point is just east of where Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York meet (42° 3' N; 73° 29' W), on the southern slope of Mount Frissell, whose peak lies nearby in Massachusetts. At the opposite extreme, many of the coastal towns have areas that are less than 20 feet above sea level.

Although Connecticut has a long maritime history, and a reputation based on that history, Connecticut has no direct oceanfront. The coast of Connecticut sits on Long Island Sound, and estuary. Connecticut's access to the Atlantic Ocean, is both to the east (toward New York City) and to the west (toward the "race" near Rhode Island). Offering safe harbor from ocean storms, is one of the main reasons there is such a large boating community along the Connecticut coast. Many transatlantic ships seek anchor inside Long Island Sound when tropical cyclones pass off the upper East Coast.

The Connecticut River cuts through the center of the state, flowing into Long Island Sound. The most populous metropolitan region centered within the state lies in the Connecticut River Valley. Despite Connecticut's relatively small size, it features wide regional variations in its landscape; for example, in the northwestern Litchfield Hills, it features rolling mountains and horse farms, whereas in areas to the east of New Haven along the coast, the landscape features coastal marshes, beaches, and large scale maritime activities.

Further information: List of Connecticut rivers

Connecticut's rural areas and small towns in the northeast and northwest corners of the state contrast sharply with its industrial cities such as Stamford, Bridgeport, and New Haven, located along the coastal highways from the New York border to New London, then northward up the Connecticut River to Hartford. Many towns in northeastern and northwestern Connecticut center around a "green", such as the Litchfield Green, Lebanon Green (the largest in the state), and Wethersfield Green (the oldest in the state). Near the green typically stand historical visual symbols of New England towns, such as a white church, a colonial meeting house, a colonial tavern or "inne", several colonial houses, and so on, establishing a scenic historic appearance maintained for both historic preservation and tourism. Many of the areas in southern and coastal Connecticut, have been built up and rebuilt over the years, and look less visually like the New England.

Connecticut consists of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests consisting of various oaks, beech, hickories, and maple cover much of the state. In the northwest part of the state, these give way to New England-Acadian forests of the Taconic Mountains.

Further information: List of Connecticut state forests

The northern boundary of the state with Massachusetts is marked by the Southwick Jog or Granby Notch, an approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) square detour into Connecticut. The actual origin of this anomaly is clearly established in a long line of disputes and temporary agreements which was finally concluded in 1804, when southern Southwick, whose residents sought to leave Massachusetts, was split in half.

The southwestern border of Connecticut, where it abuts New York State, is marked by a panhandle in Fairfield County, containing the towns of Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, Darien, and parts of Norwalk and Wilton.This irregularity in the boundary is the result of territorial disputes in the late 17th century, culminating with New York giving up its claim to the area, whose residents considered themselves part of Connecticut, in exchange for an equivalent area extending northwards from Ridgefield to the Massachusetts border as well as undisputed claim to Rye, New York.

Further information: Connecticut panhandle

Areas maintained by the National Park Service include Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor, and Weir Farm National Historic Site.

History

Exploration and early settlement

The name Connecticut is derived from anglicized versions of the Algonquian word that has been translated as "long tidal river" and "upon the long river". The Connecticut region was inhabited by multiple Native American tribes before European settlement and colonization, including the Mohegans, the Pequots, and the Paugusetts. The first European explorer in Connecticut was the Dutch explorer Adriaen Block. After he explored this region in 1614, Dutch fur traders sailed up the Connecticut River (then known by the Dutch as Versche Rivier—"Fresh River") and built a fort at Dutch Point in what is present-day Hartford, which they called "House of Hope" (Dutch: Huis van Hoop).

John Winthrop, then of Massachusetts, received a commission to create a new colony at Old Saybrook at the mouth of the Connecticut River in 1635. This was the first of three distinct colonies that later would be combined to make up Connecticut. Saybrook Colony was a direct challenge to Dutch claims. The colony was not more than a small outpost and never matured. In 1644, the Saybrook Colony merged itself into the Connecticut Colony.

The first English settlers came in 1633 and settled at Windsor, and then at Wethersfield the following year. However, the main body of settlers came in one large group in 1636. The settlers were Puritans from Massachusetts, led by Thomas Hooker. Hooker had been prominent in England and was a professor of theology at Cambridge. He was also an important political writer and made a significant contribution to Constitutional theory. He broke with the political leadership in Massachusetts, and, just as Roger Williams created a new polity in Rhode Island, Hooker and his cohort did the same and established the Connecticut Colony at Hartford in 1636. This was the second of the three colonies. The third colony was founded in March 1638. New Haven Colony (originally known as the Quinnipiack Colony) was established by John Davenport, Theophilus Eaton, and others at New Haven. The New Haven Colony had its own constitution, "The Fundamental Agreement of the New Haven Colony", which was signed on June 4, 1639.

Because the Dutch were outnumbered by the flood of English settlers from Massachusetts, they left their fort in 1654.

Neither the establishment of the Connecticut Colony nor of the Quinnipiack Colony was carried out with the sanction of the English Crown, and they were independent political entities. They naturally were presumptively English, but in a legal sense, they were only secessionist outposts of Massachusetts Bay. In 1662, Winthrop took advantage of this void in political affairs and obtained in England the charter by which the colonies of Connecticut and Quinnipiack were united from the newly restored Charles II, who granted liberal political terms. Although Winthrop's charter favored the Connecticut colony, New Haven remained a seat of government with Hartford until after the American Revolution.

Historically important colonial settlements included Windsor (1633), Wethersfield (1634), Saybrook (1635), Hartford (1636), New Haven (1638), Fairfield (1639), Guilford (1639), Milford (1639), Stratford (1639), Farmington (1640), Stamford (1641), and New London (1646).

The Pequot War marked the first major clash between European settlers and Native Americans in New England. With the Pequot people reacting with increasing aggression to European settlers encroaching on their territory, settlers responded in 1636 with a raid on a Pequot village on Block Island. The Pequots laid siege to Saybrook Colony's garrison that autumn, then in the spring of 1637 raided Wethersfield. Colonists there declared war on the Pequots, organized a band of militia and Native Americans, and attacked a Pequot village on the Mystic River, with death toll estimates ranging between 300 and 700 Pequots. After suffering another major loss at a battle in Fairfield, the Pequots asked for a truce and peace terms.

Colonial Connecticut

Connecticut developed a conservative elite that would dominate colonial affairs in the years leading up to the American Revolution. The forces of liberalism and democracy emerged slowly, encouraged by the entrepreneurship of the business community, and the new religious freedom stimulated by the First Great Awakening.

With the establishment of Yale College in 1701, Connecticut had an important institution to educate clergy and civil leaders. Just as Yale dominated Connecticut's intellectual life, the Congregational church dominated religious life in the colony, and by extension, town affairs in many parts.

The western boundaries of Connecticut have been subject to change over time. According to the Hartford Treaty with the Dutch, signed on September 19, 1650, but never ratified by the British, the western boundary of Connecticut ran north from Greenwich Bay for a distance of 20 miles (32 km). "provided the said line come not within 10 miles (16 km) of Hudson River. This agreement was observed by both sides until war erupted between England and The Netherlands in 1652. No other limits were found. Conflict over uncertain colonial limits continued until the Duke of York captured New Netherland in 1664." On the other hand, Connecticut's original Charter in 1662 granted it all the land to the "South Sea", i.e. the Pacific Ocean. Most colonial royal grants were for long east-west strips. Connecticut took its grant seriously, and established a ninth county between the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, named Westmoreland County. This resulted in the brief Pennamite Wars with Pennsylvania.

The American Revolution

Connecticut designated four delegates to the Second Continental Congress who would sign the Declaration of Independence: Samuel Huntington, Roger Sherman, William Williams, and Oliver Wolcott.

In 1775, in the wake of the clashes between British regulars and Massachusetts militia at Lexington and Concord, Connecticut's legislature authorized the outfitting of six new regiments, with some 1,200 Connecticut troops on hand at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775.

Getting word in 1777 of Continental Army supplies in Danbury, the British landed an expeditionary force of some 2,000 troops in Westport, who marched to Danbury and destroyed much of the depot along with homes in Danbury. On the return march, Continental Army troops and militia led by General David Wooster and General Benedict Arnold engaged the British at Ridgefield in 1777.

For the winter of 1778–79, General George Washington decided to split the Continental Army into three divisions encircling New York City, where British General Sir Henry Clinton had taken up winter quarters. Major General Israel Putnam chose Redding as the winter encampment quarters for some 3,000 regulars and militia under his command. The Redding encampment allowed Putnam's soldiers to guard the replenished supply depot in Danbury and support any operations along Long Island Sound and the Hudson River Valley. Some of the men were veterans of the winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania the previous winter. Soldiers at the Redding camp endured supply shortages, cold temperatures and significant snow, with some historians dubbing the encampment "Connecticut's Valley Forge".

The state was also the launching site for a number of raids against Long Island orchestrated by Samuel Holden Parsons and Benjamin Tallmadge, and provided men and material for the war effort, especially to Washington's army outside New York City. General William Tryon raided the Connecticut coast in July 1779, focusing on New Haven, Norwalk, and Fairfield. New London and Groton Heights were raided in September 1781 by Arnold, who at that point had turned to the British.

Early National Period and Industrial Revolution

On January 9, 1788, Connecticut ratified the U.S. Constitution, becoming the fifth state.

Connecticut prospered during the era following the American Revolution, as mills and textile factories were built and seaports flourished from trade and fisheries.

In 1786, Connecticut ceded territory to the U.S. government that became part of the Northwest Territory. Connecticut retained land extending across the northern part of present-day Ohio, called the Connecticut Western Reserve. The Western Reserve section was settled largely by people from Connecticut, and they brought Connecticut place names to Ohio. Agreements with Pennsylvania and New York extinguished the land claims by Connecticut within its neighbors, creating the Connecticut Panhandle. Connecticut ceded the Western Reserve in 1800 to the federal government, which brought the state to its present boundaries other than minor adjustments with Massachusetts.

The British blockade during the War of 1812 hurt exports, and bolstered the influence of Federalists who opposed the war. The cessation of imports from Britain stimulated the construction of factories to manufacture textiles and machinery. Due in part to the inventions of Eli Whitney and other early innovators of the Industrial Revolution, Connecticut would come to be recognized as a major center for manufacturing.

The state was known for its political conservatism, typified by its Federalist party and the Yale College of Timothy Dwight. The foremost intellectuals were Dwight and Noah Webster, who compiled his great dictionary in New Haven. Religious tensions polarized the state, as the established Congregational Church, in alliance with the Federalists, tried to maintain its grip on power. The failure of the Hartford Convention in 1814 hurt the Federalist cause, with the Republican Party gaining control in 1817.

Having been governed under the "Fundamental Orders" since 1639, Connecticut adopted in 1818 a new constitution.

Civil War era

Connecticut manufacturers played a major role in supplying the Union forces with weapons and supplies during the Civil War. The state furnished 55,000 men. They were formed into thirty full regiments of infantry, including two in the U.S. Colored Troops, with several Connecticut men becoming generals. The Navy attracted 250 officers and 2100 men, and Gideon Welles was Secretary of the Navy. James H. Ward of Hartford was the first U.S. Naval Officer killed in the Civil War. Connecticut casualties included 2088 killed in combat, 2801 dying from disease, and 689 dying in Confederate prison camps.

A surge of national unity in 1861 brought thousands flocking to the colors from every town and city. However, as the war became a crusade to end slavery, many Democrats (especially Irish Catholics) pulled back. The Democrats took a peace position and included many Copperheads willing to let the South secede. The intensely fought 1863 election for governor was narrowly won by the Republicans.

Second Industrial Revolution

Connecticut's extensive industry, dense population, flat terrain, and wealth encouraged the construction of railroads, starting in 1839. By 1840, 102 miles (164 km) of line were in operation, growing to 402 miles (647 km) in 1850 and 601 miles (967 km) in 1860.

The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, called the New Haven or "The Consolidated", became the dominant Connecticut railroad company after 1872. Starting in the 1890s J. P. Morgan began financing the major New England railroads, and dividing territory so they would not compete. The New Haven purchased 50 smaller companies, including steamship lines, and built a network of light rails (electrified trolleys) that provided inter-urban transportation for all of southern New England. By 1912, the New Haven operated over 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of track, and 120,000 employees.

In 1875, the first telephone exchange in the world was established in New Haven.

World War I

When World War I broke out in 1914, Connecticut became a major supplier of weaponry to the U.S. military; by 1918, 80% of the state's industries were producing goods for the war effort. Remington Arms in Bridgeport produced half the small-arms cartridges used by the U.S. Army; with other major suppliers including Winchester in New Haven and Colt in Hartford.

Connecticut was also an important U.S. Navy supplier, with Electric Boat receiving orders for 85 submarines, Lake Torpedo Boat building more than 20 subs, and the Groton Iron Works building freighters. On June 21, 1916, the U.S. Navy made Groton the site for its East Coast submarine base and school.

The state enthusiastically supported the American war effort in 1917 and 1918, with large purchases of war bonds and a further expansion of war industry, and emphasis on increasing food production in the farms. Thousands of state, local, and volunteer groups mobilized for the war effort, and were coordinated by the Connecticut State Council of Defense. Manufacturers wrestled with manpower shortages; with American Brass and Manufacturing running at half capacity, the federal government agreed to furlough soldiers to join the Waterbury company.

Interwar period

In 1919, J. Henry Roraback started the Connecticut Light & Power Co., which would grow to become the state's dominant electric utility.

In 1925, Frederick Rentschler spurred the creation of Pratt & Whitney in Hartford to develop engines for aircraft; the company would become an important military supplier in World War II and in time one of the three major manufacturers of jet engines in the world.

On September 21, 1938, the most destructive storm in New England history struck eastern Connecticut, killing hundreds of people. The eye of the "Long Island Express" passed just west of New Haven and devastated the Connecticut shoreline between Old Saybrook and Stonington, which lacked the partial protection provided by Long Island, N.Y. to points west from the full force of wind and waves. The hurricane caused extensive damage to infrastructure, homes, and businesses. In New London, a 500-foot sailing ship was driven into a warehouse complex, causing a major fire. Heavy rainfall caused the Connecticut River to flood downtown Hartford and East Hartford. An estimated 50,000 trees fell onto roadways.

World War II

The advent of Lend-Lease in support of Britain helped lift Connecticut from the Great Depression, with the state a major production center for weaponry and supplies used in World War II. Connecticut manufactured 4.1 percent of total U.S. military armaments produced during World War II, ranking ninth among the 48 states, with major factories including Colt for firearms, Pratt & Whitney for aircraft engines, Chance Vought for fighter planes, Hamilton Standard for propellers, and Electric Boat for submarines and PT boats. In Bridgeport, General Electric would produce a significant new weapon to counter opposing tanks: the bazooka.

On May 13, 1940, Igor Sikorsky made an untethered flight of what was the first practical helicopter. While the helicopter would see only limited use in World War II, future military production would make Sikorsky Aircraft's Stratford plant Connecticut's largest single manufacturing site by the start of the 21st century.

Post-World War II economic expansion

While Connecticut saw the loss of some wartime factories following the end of hostilities, the state shared in a general post-war expansion that included the construction of highways, resulting in middle-class growth in suburban areas.

Prescott Bush represented Connecticut in the U.S. Senate from 1952 to 1963; his son George H.W. Bush and grandson George W. Bush both would become presidents of the United States.

In 1965, Connecticut ratified its current constitution, replacing the document that had served since 1818.

In 1968, commercial operation began for the Connecticut Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in East Haddam; in 1970, the Millstone Nuclear Power Station would begin operations in Waterford.

In 1974 Connecticut elected as governor Democrat Ella T. Grasso, who became the first woman in any state to be elected governor in her own right.

Late 20th century

Connecticut's dependence on the defense industry posed an economic challenge at the end of the Cold War. The resulting budget crisis helped elect Lowell Weicker as governor on a third-party ticket in 1990. Weicker's remedy, a state income tax, proved effective in balancing the budget, but only for the short-term, and in part because of this politically unpopular move, Weicker did not run for a second term.

In 1992, initial construction was completed on Foxwoods Casino at the Mashantucket Pequots reservation in eastern Connecticut, which would become the largest casino in the Western Hemisphere. Mohegan Sun would follow four years later.

Early 21st century

In 2000, presidential candidate Al Gore chose as his running mate Senator Joe Lieberman, marking the first time a major party presidential ticket included someone of the Jewish faith. Gore and Lieberman fell five votes short of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the Electoral College. In the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 65 state residents were killed, mostly Fairfield County residents who were working in the World Trade Center. In 2004, Republican Governor John G. Rowland resigned during a corruption investigation, later pleading guilty to federal charges.

In 2011 and 2012, Connecticut was hit by three major storms in just over 14 months, with all three causing extensive property damage and electric outages. Hurricane Irene struck Connecticut August 28 and damage totaled $235 million. Two months later in late October, the "Halloween nor'easter" dropped extensive snow onto trees, resulting in snapped branches and trunks that damaged power lines, with some areas not seeing electricity restored for 11 days. Hurricane Sandy had tropical storm-force winds when it reached Connecticut October 29, 2012. Sandy's winds drove storm surges into streets, and cut power to 98 percent of homes and businesses en route to more than $360 million in damage.

On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and then killed himself. The massacre spurred renewed efforts by activists for tighter laws on gun ownership nationally.

Transportation

Roads

The Interstate highways in the state are Interstate 95 (I-95; the Connecticut Turnpike) traveling southwest to northeast along the coast, I-84 traveling southwest to northeast in the center of the state, I-91 traveling north to south in the center of the state, and I-395 traveling north to south near the eastern border of the state. The other major highways in Connecticut are the Merritt Parkway and Wilbur Cross Parkway, which together form Connecticut Route 15 (Route 15), traveling from the Hutchinson River Parkway in New York parallel to I-95 before turning north of New Haven and traveling parallel to I-91, finally becoming a surface road in Berlin. I-95 and Route 15 were originally toll roads; they relied on a system of toll plazas at which all traffic stopped and paid fixed tolls. A series of terrible crashes at these plazas eventually contributed to the decision to remove the tolls in 1988. Other major arteries in the state include U.S. Route 7 (US 7) in the west traveling parallel to the New York state line, Route 8 farther east near the industrial city of Waterbury and traveling north–south along the Naugatuck River Valley nearly parallel with US 7, and Connecticut Route 9 in the east.

Between New Haven and New York City, I-95 is one of the most congested highways in the United States. Many people now drive longer distances to work in the New York City area. This strains the three lanes of traffic capacity, resulting in lengthy rush hour delays. Frequently, the congestion spills over to clog the parallel Merritt Parkway. The state has encouraged traffic reduction schemes, including rail use and ride-sharing.

Connecticut also has a very active bicycling community, with one of the highest rates of bicycle ownership and use in the United States. New Haven's cycling community, organized in a local advocacy group called ElmCityCycling, is particularly active. According to the US Census 2006 American Community Survey, New Haven has the highest percentage of commuters who bicycle to work of any major metropolitan center on the East Coast.

Rail

Southwestern Connecticut is served by the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line, operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and providing commuter service to New York City and New Haven, with branches servicing New Canaan, Danbury, and Waterbury. Connecticut lies along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor which features frequent Northeast Regional and Acela Express service. Towns between New Haven and New London are also served by the Shore Line East commuter line. A commuter rail service called the Hartford Line between New Haven and Springfield on Amtrak's New Haven-Springfield Line is scheduled to begin operating in 2018. A proposed commuter rail service, the Central Corridor Rail Line, will connect New London with Norwich, Willimantic, Storrs, and Stafford Springs, with service continuing into Massachusetts and Brattleboro. Amtrak also operates a shuttle service between New Haven and Springfield, Massachusetts, serving Wallingford, Meriden, Berlin, Hartford, Windsor Locks, and Springfield, MA and the Vermonter runs from Washington to St. Albans, Vermont via the same line.

Bus

Statewide bus service is supplied by Connecticut Transit, owned by the Connecticut Department of Transportation, with smaller municipal authorities providing local service. Bus networks are an important part of the transportation system in Connecticut, especially in urban areas like Hartford, Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport and New Haven. Connecticut Transit also operates CTfastrak, a bus rapid transit service between New Britain and Hartford. The bus route opened to the public on March 28, 2015.

Air

Bradley International Airport is located in Windsor Locks, 15 miles (24 km) north of Hartford. Regional air service is provided at Tweed New Haven Regional Airport. Larger civil airports include Danbury Municipal Airport and Waterbury-Oxford Airport in western Connecticut, and Groton-New London Airport in eastern Connecticut. Sikorsky Memorial Airport is located in Stratford and mostly services cargo, helicopter and private aviation.

Ferry

The Rocky Hill – Glastonbury Ferry and the Chester–Hadlyme Ferry cross the Connecticut River. The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry travels between Bridgeport, Connecticut and Port Jefferson, New York by crossing Long Island Sound. Ferry service also operates out of New London to Orient, New York; Fishers Island, New York; and Block Island, Rhode Island.

Etymology and symbols

The name "Connecticut" originates from the Mohegan word quonehtacut, meaning "place of long tidal river". Connecticut's official nickname, adopted in 1959, is "The Constitution State", based on its colonial constitution of 1638–39 which was the first in America and, arguably, the world. Unofficially (but popularly) Connecticut is also known as "The Nutmeg State". The origins of the nutmeg connection to Connecticut are unknown. It may have come from its sailors returning from voyages with nutmeg (which in the 18th and 19th centuries was a very valuable spice). It may have originated in the early machined sheet tin nutmeg grinders sold by early Connecticut peddlers. It is also facetiously said to come from Yankee peddlers from Connecticut who would sell small carved nobs of wood shaped to look like nutmeg to unsuspecting customers. George Washington gave Connecticut the title of "The Provisions State" because of the material aid the state rendered to the American Revolutionary War effort. Connecticut is also known as "The Land of Steady Habits".

According to Webster's New International Dictionary, 1993, a person who is a native or resident of Connecticut is a "Connecticuter". There are numerous other terms coined in print, but not in use, such as: "Connecticotian"—Cotton Mather in 1702; "Connecticutensian"—Samuel Peters in 1781. "Nutmegger" is sometimes used, as is "Yankee" (the official state song is "Yankee Doodle"), though this usually refers to someone from the wider New England region (and in the Southern United States, to anyone who lives north of the Mason–Dixon line). Linguist Allen Walker Read reports a more playful term, 'connecticutie.' The traditional abbreviation of the state's name is "Conn.;" the official postal abbreviation is CT.

Commemorative stamps issued by the United States Postal Service with Connecticut themes include Nathan Hale, Eugene O'Neill, Josiah Willard Gibbs, Noah Webster, Eli Whitney, the whaling ship the Charles W. Morgan which is docked in Mystic Seaport, and a decoy of a broadbill duck.

Connecticut state insignia and historical figures
Source Sites, Seals & Symbols except where noted. State aircraft Vought F4U Corsair State hero Nathan Hale State heroine Prudence Crandall State composer Charles Edward Ives State statues in Statuary Hall Roger Sherman and Jonathan Trumbull State poet laureate Dick Allen Connecticut State Troubadour Kristen Graves State composer laureate Jacob Druckman