New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the third largest city in
Connecticut, after
Bridgeport and
Hartford. It is in
New Haven County, on
New Haven Harbor, on the northern coast of
Long Island Sound. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 123,626. New Haven is generally considered to be halfway between the greater
New York metropolitan area and the greater
New England area.
New Haven's nickname is
the Elm City, as it historically contained many
elm trees. While most succumbed to
Dutch Elm disease in the middle of the
20th Century, New Haven nevertheless remains a very 'green' city. It is considered the first planned city (
1638) in the
United States. The city is probably best known as the home of
Yale University. New Haven lays claim to the introduction of
pizza to the U.S. (see
Cuisine) and to the origination of the
frisbee as a flying toy.
New Haven is the birthplace of current
U.S. President George W. Bush, who was born when his father, former president
George H. W. Bush, was living in New Haven while a student at Yale. A predominantly
Democratic city, New Haven voters overwhelmingly supported
Al Gore in the
2000 election and fellow Yale graduate
John Kerry in
2004.
Interstate highway officials made several attempts to place signs on Interstates 91 and 95 announcing the city as the birthplace of the current president, but the signs were subject to rapid
vandalism and have been removed. New Haven was also a temporary home to former president
Bill Clinton and
U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who met while they were both students at
Yale Law School.
Pre-colonial and colonial history
Before European arrival, New Haven was the home of the
Quinnipiack tribe of
Native Americans, who lived in villages around the
harbor and subsisted off local fisheries and the farming of
maize. The area was briefly visited by
Dutch explorer
Adriaen Block in 1614. Dutch traders set up a small trading system of
beaver pelts with the local inhabitants, but trade was sporadic and the Dutch did not settle permanently in what would become New Haven.
In April 1638, five hundred
Puritans who left the
Massachusetts Bay Colony under the leadership of the Reverend
John Davenport and the
London merchant
Theophilus Eaton sailed into the harbor. These settlers were hoping to establish a more perfect theological community than the one they left in
Massachusetts and sought to take advantage of the excellent port capabilities of the harbor. The Quinnipiacks, who were under attack by neighboring
Pequots, agreed to sell their land to the settlers in return for protection from hostile tribes.
By
1640, the town's theocratic government and city grid plan were in place, and the town was renamed Newhaven from Quinnipiac. The new settlement soon became the headquarters of the
New Haven Colony, which at that time was separate from the
Connecticut Colony which had been established to the north focusing on
Hartford. Economic disaster struck the colony in
1646, however, when the town sent its first fully-loaded ship of local goods back to England. This ship never reached the Old World, and its disappearance stymied New Haven's development in the face of the rising trade power of
Boston and
New Amsterdam. In
1660 founder John Davenport's wishes were fulfilled and
Hopkins School was founded in New Haven with money from
Edward Hopkins estate.
In
1661, the judges who had signed the death warrant of
Charles I of England were pursued by
Charles II. Two judges, Colonel
Edward Whalley and Colonel
William Goffe, fled to New Haven to seek refuge from the king's forces. John Davenport arranged for these "
Regicides" to hide in the
West Rock hills northwest of the town. A third judge,
John Dixwell, joined the other regicides at a later time.
New Haven became part of the Connecticut Colony in 1664, when the two colonies were merged under political pressure from England. It was made co-
capital of Connecticut in 1701, a status it retained until 1873. At this time, New Haven was a largely agricultural town, but in 1716, Yale University relocated from
Old Saybrook to New Haven and established the early city as a center of learning.
During the
American Revolution, New Haven was a town of approximately 3,500 citizens and was a major hotbed of revolutionary activity â€" so much so that the British invaded the town during the course of the war; however, the British forces did not torch New Haven as they had done with many other coastal New England towns they seized, leaving many of its colonial features preserved.
For over a century, New Haven had fought alongside the British in the
French and Indian War, and many influential residents, such as General
David Wooster, hoped that the conflict with Britain could be resolved short of rebellion. On
April 23,
1775 (still celebrated in New Haven as
Powder House Day), however, the Second Company,
Governor's Foot Guard, of New Haven entered the struggle against the British when, under Captain
Benedict Arnold, they broke into the powder house to arm themselves and began a three day march to
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Other New Haven militia members were on hand to escort
George Washington from his overnight stay in New Haven on his way to Cambridge. Contemporary reports, from both sides, remark on the New Haven volunteers' professional military bearing, including uniforms.
Post-colonial history
New Haven was incorporated as a city in
1784, and
Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Constitution and author of the "
Connecticut Compromise," became the new city's first mayor.
The city struck fortune in the late 18th-century with the inventions and industrial activity of
Eli Whitney, a Yale graduate who remained in New Haven to develop the
cotton gin and also establish a gun-manufacturing factory in the northern part of the city near the
Hamden border. That area of Hamden is still known as
Whitneyville, and the main road through both cities is known as Whitney Avenue. The factory is now a museum, with particular emphasis on activities for children, as well as a substantial collection of exhibits pertaining to the
A. C. Gilbert Company. Whitney pioneered the concept of industrial mass-production instead of painstaking hand-shaping of individual pieces, no two of which would be interchangeable. Adoption of his methods made early Connecticut a powerful manufacturing economy; so many arms manufacturers sprang up that Connecticut became known as 'The Arsenal of America'. It was in Whitney's gun-manufacturing plant that
Samuel Colt first invented the
automatic revolver in 1836.
The
Farmington Canal, created in the early 1800s, was an important transporter of goods into the interior regions of Connecticut, and ran from New Haven to Northampton.
New Haven was home to one of the important early events in the burgeoning
anti-slavery movement when, in
1839, the trial of mutineering
Mendi tribesmen being transported as slaves on the Spanish
slaveship Amistad was held in New Haven's United States District Court. There is a statue of
Joseph Cinqué, the informal leader of the slaves, beside the City Hall building.
During the
Civil War, the city received another economic boost as demand for industrial goods increased nationally. New Haven's population doubled in the time between the war and the start of the 20th century, most notably due to the influx of immigrants from southern
Europe, particularly
Italy.
Ku Klux Klan in New Haven
The
Ku Klux Klan, which preached a doctrine of Protestant control of the country and supression of blacks, Jews and Catholics, had a following in New Haven in the 1920s. Across the state, the Klan's popularity peaked in
1925 when it had a statewide membership of 15,000. New Haven was one of the communities where the group was most active in the state, although
Stamford and
New Britain were also centers of support.
[DiGiovanni, the Rev. (now Monsignior) Stephen M., The Catholic Church in Fairfield County: 1666-1961, 1987, William Mulvey Inc., New Canaan, Chapter II: The New Catholic Immigrants, 1880-1930; subchapter: "The True American: White, Protestant, Non-Alcoholic," pp. 81-82; DiGiovanni, in turn, cites (Footnote 209, page 258) Jackson, Kenneth T., The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930 (New York, 1981), p. 239] By
1926, the Klan leadership in the state was divided, and it lost strength, although it continued to maintain small, local branches for years and even decades afterward in various communities.
[DiGiovanni, the Rev. (now Monsignior) Stephen M., The Catholic Church in Fairfield County: 1666-1961, 1987, William Mulvey Inc., New Canaan, Chapter II: The New Catholic Immigrants, 1880-1930; subchapter: "The True American: White, Protestant, Non-Alcoholic," p. 82; DiGiovanni, in turn, cites (Footnote 210, page 258) Chalmers, David A., Hooded Americanism, The History of the Ku Klux Klan (New York, 1981), p. 268]Modern history
New Haven's growth continued during the two World Wars, with most new inhabitants being
African Americans from
the South and
Puerto Ricans. The city reached its peak population after
World War II, and it can be argued that it was in decline when post-war suburbanization began. However, other factors, such as decreasing family sizes, explain most of the decline in population - because of the very small land footprint of the city (only 17 square miles), new housing after 1950 was built primarily in adjacent, suburban towns which, in many other parts of the United States, would be considered part of New Haven proper.
Like other cities in 1954, New Haven was suffering from a perceived exodus of middle-class workers and the development of slums as the population grew. Then-mayor Richard Lee attempted to stem the tide with one of the earliest major
urban renewal projects. Large sections of downtown New Haven were destroyed and rebuilt with new office towers, a hotel, and large shopping complexes. Other parts of the city were affected by the construction of
Interstate 95 along the Long Wharf section and
Interstate 91. The partial construction of a highway to the western suburbs of the city, known as Route 34, remains visible to this day in the form of a strip of open fields running along the edge of the poor Hill section. Today, Route 34 is being filled in with biomedical space and housing.
From the
1960s through the early
1990s, New Haven continued to decline both economically and in terms of population despite many attempts to resurrect the city through renewal projects. During this period, the city and Yale argued over taxation and land use.
At present, New Haven has stabilized. The city is working to attract biomedical and pharmaceutical research facilities, and many have done so to take advantage of the city's connections with Yale.
Downtown New Haven is revitalizing itself as a center of shopping, and
Crown Street and
Chapel Street host a burgeoning nightlife and bar scene. Thousands of luxury apartments, including million-dollar loft condominiums, are under construction in the downtown and have sold rapidly. The university, and other local schools, continue to draw young people from around the world. But poverty remains a problem for New Haven, as it does for many New England post-industrial cities.
A major point of public discontent is the cost of housing in New Haven proper. Connecticut as a whole has generally high housing prices, as the state is wealthier on average than the rest of the United States, has a relatively low unemployment rate, a high quality of life in most regions, relatively mild coastal weather compared to other locations throughout the Northeast, and close proximity to other large cities. Some residents believe the housing-price problem is exacerbated in New Haven by the presence of Yale University. They contend that the large student population in New Haven provides a constant and steady demand for apartment housing, which is in limited supply. Thus, landlords are able to charge inflated rents. In response, the City of New Haven has undertaken several subsidy programs, in conjunction with the State, to try to provide affordable housing units for certain working-class families and residents.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 52.4
km² (20.2
mi²). 48.8 km² (18.9 mi²) of it is land and 3.6 km² (1.4 mi²) of it (6.91%) is water.
New Haven's best-known geographic features are its large deep harbor, and two reddish basalt "trap rocks" which rise to the northeast and northwest of the city core. These trap rocks are known respectively as
East Rock and
West Rock, and both serve as extensive parks. West Rock has been tunneled through to make way for the east-west passage of the
Wilbur Cross Parkway (the only highway tunnel through a natural obstacle in Connecticut), and once served as the hideout of the "
Regicides" (see:
Regicides Trail). Most New-Haveners refer to these men as "The Three Judges." East Rock features the prominent Soldiers and Sailors war monument on its peak as well as the "Great/Giant Steps" which run up the rock's cliffside.
Urban layout
New Haven has a long tradition of
urban planning and a purposeful design of the city's layout. Upon founding, New Haven was laid out in a
grid plan of nine square blocks; the central square was left open, in the tradition of many New England towns, as the
city green (a commons area). To the present day, the
New Haven Green remains almost unchanged from its original layout, and is home to three separate historic churches which speak to the original theocratic nature of the city. The Green remains the social center of the city today. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1970.
In the modern era, New Haven has undergone many urban redevelopment projects to revitalize and enhance the city with mixed results. The central downtown area, for one, has been the site of numerous experiments in urban re-design, with new hotels, shopping centers, a sports coliseum, and office towers built under city, state, and federal efforts. Some of these efforts, such as the
New Haven Coliseum, were never officially completed; the Coliseum is now closed and is being torn down. The most recent sector being redeveloped is the "Ninth Square," named from the original nine square layout described above.
Neighborhoods
The city has many distinct neighborhoods despite its relatively compact size when compared to other cities. In addition to
Downtown, centered on the
central business district and the
Green, are the following neighborhoods: the west central neighborhoods of Dixwell and Dwight; the southern neighborhoods of
The Hill, historic water-front City Point (or Oyster Point), and the harborside district of
Long Wharf; the western neighborhoods of
Edgewood-West River,
Westville, Amity, and
West Rock-Westhills;
East Rock, Prospect Hill, and Newhallville in the northern side of town; the east central neighborhoods of Mill River and
Wooster Square, an Italian-American neighborhood;
Fair Haven, located between the Mill and Quinnipiac rivers; Quinnipiac Meadows and Fair Haven Heights across the Quinnipiac River; and facing the eastern side of the harbor,
The Annex and
Morris CoveEach neighborhood exhibits its own unique mix of ethnic, economic, and social qualities, combining influences from immigrants, long-time residents, and neighboring towns. The city's neighborhoods are, in general, seeing a rebirth of economic vibrancy and development, especially Downtown and Long Wharf.
Greater New Haven
New Haven lies within the New Yorkâ€"Newarkâ€"Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA
Combined Statistical Area, but is also contained within the more local New Haven Metropolitan
NECTA, in which it serves as the primary metropolitan focal point for most of
New Haven County and southern
Middlesex County. The metro area of
Greater New Haven encompasses about 600,000 residents, many of whom commute to work in New Haven, and includes the following towns:
In New Haven CountyIn Middlesex CountyDerby and
Milford are sometimes also considered to be part of Greater New Haven, although both towns lie on the border with the
Greater Bridgeport area. Both of these towns are located in New Haven County.
Historical population of
New Haven[1][2] | | 1638 | 500 (estimate) |
| 1641 | 800 (estimate) |
| 1775 | 3500 (estimate) |
| 1790 | 4,487 |
| 1800 | 4,049 |
| 1810 | 5,772 |
| 1820 | 7,147 |
| 1830 | 10,180 |
| 1840 | 12,960 |
| 1850 | 20,345 |
| 1860 | 39,267 |
| 1870 | 50,840 |
| 1880 | 62,882 |
| 1890 | 86,045 |
| 1900 | 108,027 |
| 1910 | 133,605 |
| 1920 | 162,537 |
| 1930 | 162,665 |
| 1940 | 160,605 |
| 1950 | 164,443 |
| 1960 | 152,048 |
| 1970 | 137,707 |
| 1980 | 126,021 |
| 1990 | 130,474 |
| 2000 | 123,626 |
| 2002 | 124,161 (estimate) |
As of the
census² of 2000, there were 123,626 people, 47,094 households, and 25,854 families residing in the city. The
population density was 2,532.2/km² (6,558.4/mi²). There were 52,941 housing units at an average density of 1,084.4/km² (2,808.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 43.46%
White, 37.36%
African American, 0.43%
Native American, 3.90%
Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander, 10.89% from
other races, and 3.91% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 21.39% of the population.
There were 47,094 households out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.5% were
married couples living together, 22.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.1% were non-families. 36.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 16.4% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,604, and the median income for a family was $35,950. Males had a median income of $33,605 versus $28,424 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $16,393. About 20.5% of families and 24.4% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 32.2% of those under age 18 and 17.9% of those age 65 or over.
New Haven is known first and foremost as a center for education and research.
Yale University, at the heart of downtown, is one of the city's best known features and its largest employer. New Haven is also home to other centers of higher education, including
Southern Connecticut State University and
Albertus Magnus College. The
University of New Haven is located, interestingly enough, in the neighboring city of
West Haven. North of the city, in Hamden, is the site of
Quinnipiac University. New Haven is also served by
Gateway Community College, located in the
Long Wharf district.
Hopkins School is also located in New Haven, and is the fifth oldest educational institution in the United States.
New Haven is served by the daily
New Haven Register, the weekly alternative (now corporate run)
New Haven Advocate and the online daily
New Haven Independent. It is also served by several student-run papers, including the
Yale Daily News, the weekly
Yale Herald and a humor tabloid,
Rumpus Magazine.
Almost unique for a city of its size, New Haven offers a wealth of cultural opportunities.
Cuisine
Credit for creation of the
hamburger sandwich is disputed, but some say that it was first served in the United States in
1895 by Louis Lassen, operator of
Louis' Lunch, which is still in operation. Burgers are still cooked in the original 1895 setup, which holds them vertically instead of flat, between two open flames; they are served between two slices of white bread, and the only condiments available are slices of
tomato and onions. The restaurant is one of eight featured in "
Hamburger America"[
3], a
documentary film which premiered on
Sundance cable television network on the
Fourth of July,
2005.
As the city was a major destination for Italian immigrants in the early 20th century, New Haven's culinary tradition also includes a claim of being the birthplace of
pizza in the United States. Contentious as that claim may be (see
Gennaro Lombardi for a rival American claim, or the pizzerie
Da Michele or
Brandi of
Naples, Italy, which claim to have invented the
margherita in 1889), New-Haven-style pizza, called
apizza (pronounced ah-BEETS in the local Italian dialect), is made in a coal- or wood-fired brick oven, and is notable for its paper-thin crust. Apizza may be Red (with a
tomato-based sauce) or White (
garlic and
olive oil), and pies ordered "plain" are made without the otherwise customary
mozzarella cheese (pronounced sca-MOTZ, as it was originally smoked mozzarella, known
scamorza in Italian). Locally, the White
Clam Pie is favored. Pizzerias of distinction include
Sally's Apizza and
Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, both located on the same block in the
Italian-American neighborhood of
Wooster Square,
Modern Apizza not far away on State Street, and upstart newcomer
Bar, a
Microbrewery located across Crown Street from
Louis' Lunch in New Haven's "entertainment district" downtown.
Some exceptionally highly regarded restaurants in New Haven include the
Union League Café on Chapel St., owned by Jean-Pierre (Chef de Cuisine) and Robin Vuillermet, serving classical
haute cuisine,
Claire's Corner Copia at Chapel and College Streets, serving
vegetarian food and is the oldest exclusively vegetarian menu restaurant in the country,
Caffe Adulis on College Street, where chef/owner Ficre Ghebreyesus offers a fine selection of Eritrean dishes,
Ibiza on High St. (once credited by the food critic in the New York Times with the best meal he had had in the previous year), which was formerly a highly regarded
tapas restaurant named
Pika Tapas but has turned to a fusion of
nouvelle cuisine with Spanish food, and
Roomba, serving an innovative nouvelle cuisine interpretation of Cuban food. Remarkably, all of these world-class restaurants are on the same block downtown. The city has more top Zagat-rated restaurants than any other town or city in Connecticut, by a wide margin, and is becoming an internationally-known restaurant destination.
Also of note:
* "The Carts", A collection of lunch carts (numbering around 20) from the neighborhood restaurants catering to the Yale Hospital pedestrian traffic in the center of the Hospital Green (Cedar and York st) on week days 11:00 am - 1:30PM "The Carts" offer everything the city has to offer in one setting. Frequented by Doctors, Students, Patients, Locals and Tourists, anyone can find authentic ethnic food prepared right in front of you for $5.
*The
Yankee Doodle Sandwich Shop, near the
Yale campus on Elm St., the sometimes setting of
Bill Griffith's
Zippy the Pinhead, and the inspiration for a famous work of
Robert Crumb's. You know the one.
Cherry Coke and
Vanilla Coke are still made the old fashioned way, with
cola syrup and
seltzer, and
hamburgers come with an extravagant dab of
butter.
*
Mamoun's Falafel Restaurant, an important resource in this student-filled city due to its being open until 3 AM 365 days a year to provide reasonably priced food, including many Middle Eastern and/or vegetarian and vegan selections. A dozen other middle eastern restaurants dot the area.New Haven is also famous for its Thai Cuisine with restaurants including Thai Taste, Bangkok Garden, Pad Thai, and many others.
Popular culture
|
A view of the buildings around Yale University in New Haven, with its distinctive architecture. |
On
March 20,
1914, the first United States
figure skating championship was held here.
New Haven was also the location in 1967 of one of
Jim Morrison's infamous arrests while he fronted the rock group
The Doors. The resultant near-riotous concert and arrest was commemorated by Morrison in the lyrics to "Peace Frog" which include the missive
"...blood in the streets in the town of New Haven..." This was also the first time a rockstar had ever been arrested in concert.
New Haven currently serves as the home city of the annual
International Festival of Arts and Ideas.
New Haven is also home to the famous concert and dance hall
Toad's Place which brings in many big name acts to the city.
Garry Trudeau, the creator and current author of the comic strip "
Doonesbury," attended Yale University. There he met fellow student and later
Green Party candidate for senator Charlie Pillsbury, a long-time New Haven resident for whom Trudeau's comic strip is named-- during his college years Pillsbury was known by the
nickname "The Doones."
The
Oscar-winning 1950 film
All About Eve is set at the Taft Hotel on the corner of College and Chapel Streets, now converted into apartments.
Sports teams and athletic entertainment
New Haven, being a significantly large urban area, served as a home city to many sports teams, all of which have since gone defunct or left town.
The
New Haven Coliseum, an egregious example of failed modernism leading to urban blight, was built in 1972 to accommodate a variety of entertainment functions for greater New Haven. It is currently being destroyed due to its dysfunctional design and financial drain on the City. Most people believe that the facility was outdated; that the parking garage, accessed via a quarter-mile double circular ramp, had failed to attract usage; and that the City and state Hotel-Motel Tax subsidies that had been devoted to the facility will be better applied to other priorities. The Coliseum played host to many famous entertainers and events in its 30 year history, including: The US Olympic Hockey Team, Aerosmith, The Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen and many others. The state funded
Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport proved the death nell for the Coliseum, as it could no longer compete with newer arenas.
Much like other mid-sized Northeastern industrial cities, New Haven has historically supported its minor league hockey teams enthusiastically. The New Haven Eagles were founding members of the
American Hockey League in 1936, playing at the old New Haven Arena on Grove Street. The New Haven Blades of the
Eastern Hockey League enjoyed an 18 year run from 1954 to 1972, before being replaced by the New Haven Nighthawks of the AHL, who played at the then new New Haven Coliseum. The Nighthawks were replaced by the Senators in 1993, who were run out of town because of declining support owing to a decrepit arena and a terrible record. Hockey returned in 1997, as the Beast of New Haven, a team famous for its ugly logo, set up shop in a newly refurbished coliseum. However, incompetent management meant the team would only last two seasons, ending AHL hockey in New Haven. The New Haven Knights of the
United Hockey League then took up residence in the Coliseum, and the team played until the Coliseum was closed in 2003. Today, New Haven hockey fans make due with the Yale University hockey team, that plays at
Ingalls Rink to capacity crowds. New Haven was famous for its blue collar fans who favored rough play, especially the "Crazies" who sat in Section 13 at the Coliseum, behind the opposing team's bench. These fans were always renowned for being extremely tough on opposing teams, and perhaps owing to fact that they watched bad teams play in a terrible building, relentlessly screamed obscenities and taunts at opposing players (and sometimes at hometown players), making New Haven always an intimidating place to play, though outright physical violence in the stands was rare.
New Haven was home to the
New Haven Ravens, an
Eastern League AA team from 1994-2003. Yale Field, right across the border in West Haven, was renovated for the team, which was very successful in its first few seasons, before losing support in later years. The Ravens won the Eastern League championship in 2000, giving New Haven its first professional championship since the New Haven Blades' championship in 1956. The Ravens have since moved to
Manchester, New Hampshire and became the
New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The New Haven Cutters baseball team began play at Yale Field in 2004 in the independent Northeast (now Can-Am) League.
In 2002, New Haven had an arena football franchise in AFL2, known as the Ninjas, who were successful but had to leave once the Coliseum was closed.
The
New York Giants of the
NFL played an exhibition game against the
Detroit Lions in 1960, a first for the city. A number of exhibition games were played against the New York Jets through the 1970s, and in the 1973 and 1974 NFL seasons, the Giants made the
Yale Bowl their home field while
Yankee Stadium was being renovated. The Yale Bowl is still the 2nd largest stadium in New England, and is always full when Yale and Harvard play "The Game."
From July 1st through 9th, 1995, the city hosted the Ninth
Special Olympics World Summer Games.
The
Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale University hosts the
Pilot Pen International, a professional men's and women's tennis event, every August. The stadium at the Connecticut Tennis Center is the second largest tennis venue in the world, second only to
Arthur Ashe Stadium at
Flushing Meadows in
New York City.
Theatre
The city is very active in the world of theatre, and host numerous theatres and production houses including: the
Yale Repertory Theatre, the
Long Wharf Theatre, and the
Shubert Performing Arts Center. There is also theatre activity from the School of Drama at Yale which works through the
Yale University Theatre and the student run
Yale Cabaret. Southern Connecticut State University hosts the
Lyman Center for the Performing Arts.
The Shubert Theater has premiered many major theatrical productions before their Broadway debuts. Productions that premiered at the Shubert include Richard Rogers'
Oklahoma!,
Carousel,
South Pacific,
The King and I, and
The Sound of Music; as well as Tennessee Williams'
A Streetcar Named Desire.
Museums
New Haven offers its residents and visitors a wide variety of world-class museums, many of them associated with Yale. Some of the more notable museums are the
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library which features an original copy of the
Gutenberg Bible, the
Connecticut Children's Museum, the new
Knights of Columbus museum near its world headquarters, the
Peabody Museum of Natural History, the
Eli Whitney museum (actually just across the border in
Hamden, on
Whitney Avenue), the
Yale Center for British Art, which houses the largest collection of British art outside the U.K., and the
Yale University Art Gallery, the nation's oldest college art museum. New Haven is also the home port of a life-size replica of the historical
Amistad slaveship which is open for tours at Long Wharf pier at certain times during the summer. Also at Long Wharf pier is the Quinnipiack schooner, offering sailing cruises of the harbor area throughout the summer.
Music
The spacious, beautiful New Haven Green is the site of many free music concerts held by the city, especially during the summer months. Some of the more notable music events are the free summer shows by the
New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the July Free Concerts on the Green in July and the
New Haven Jazz Festival in August. Beginning in 1982, the Jazz Festival is one of the longest-running free outdoor festivals in the United States. The summer of 2006 will host the 25th anniversary celebration of the Jazz Festival. Headliners such as Dave Brubeck, Ray Charles and Celia Cruz have historically drawn 30,000 to 50,000 fans, filling up the New Haven Green to capacity.
New Haven is also home to the famous concert venue
Toad's Place, which hosted many big name acts fairly regularly until the venues of the
Indian casinos,
Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun Casino, became the major stopping place of national acts passing through Southern Connecticut.
Rudy's Bar,
BAR and
Cafe Nine are also popular venues. Other world renowned underground clubs, such as
The Tune Inn and
Ron's Place, were once located in the Elm City.
Production-wise, many staples of the emerging
punk movement in the late 1970s had influences from the New Haven music scene, and the city has retained an alternative art and music underground that has gone on to influence post-punk era music movements such as indie/college rock and underground hip-hop with such artist as
Lil Kia.
The Yale School of Music, one of the world's best music conservatories, also contributes to the city's music scene by offering hundreds of free concerts throughout the year at various venues in and around the Yale campus.
Points of interest
*
Marsh Botanical Garden*
Yale UniversityMiscellaneous
|
A lighthouse in New Haven |
In
1892, local
confectioner George C. Smith invented the first
lollipops.
The
frisbee is said to have originated on the Yale campus, based on the tin pans of the
Frisbie Pie Company which were tossed around by students on the
New Haven Green.
New Haven serves as the world headquarters of the
Knights of Columbus organization, which maintains its headquarters and a small museum downtown. The organization was founded in the city in
1882.
New Haven has been fictionalized in the movie
The Skulls, which focused on conspiracy theories surrounding the real-life
Skull and Bones secret society which is located in New Haven. The city was also fictionally portrayed in the movie
Amistad concerning the events around the mutiny trial of that ship's rebelling captives.
New Haven is home to a number of well-known architecture firms, such as Pelli Clarke Pelli, Herbert Newman Partners, Svigals and Partners and Kevin Roche Dinkeloo, as well as hundreds of smaller "spin off" firms. Many have ties with the prestigious Yale School of Architecture. Along with Yale University, hospitals, biotechnology, bank headquarters (such as New Alliance) and nonprofit headquarters, architecture firms are among the largest employers in the city.
New Haven hosted the first
Bell PSTN switch office.
The New York Giants football team actually played their home games at the Yale Bowl for the 1974 and 1975 seasons while Yankee Stadium (their old home) was being renovated and Giants Stadium in New Jersey (their current home) was being built.
Ultra-traditional men's clothier
J. Press was founded in New Haven by immigrant tailor Jacobi Press in
1902. Their store on York Street remains their largest in the country; additional stores are in
New York,
New York,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and
Washington, D.C.New Haven was the home of
Starter Clothing Like. A sports clothing line popular in the 1990's.
Hospitals and medicine
The New Haven area supports several medical facilities that are considered some of the best hospitals in the country. These include
Yale-New Haven Hospital,
Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, and the
Hospital of Saint Raphael. A large
Veterans Affairs hospital is located nearby in West Haven. To the west in Milford is
Milford Hospital and to the north in Meriden is the
MidState Medical Center.
Transportation
Railroad
New Haven is connected to
New York City by both intercity and commuter
rail, provided by
Amtrak and
Metro-North Railroad respectively, and some New Haven residents commute to work in New York City (a trip of close to two hours). The city's main railroad station is
Union Station, which serves Metro-North trains to New York,
Shore Line East commuter trains to New London, and Amtrak trains to New York,
Boston, and
Springfield, Massachusetts. An additional station at State Street provides SLE and a few Metro-North passengers easier access to the
Central Business District.
Major highways
New Haven lies at the intersection of
Interstate 95, which provides access to New York and the coastal regions further east, and
Interstate 91, which leads northward to the interior of New England. Within the city itself there is the
Oak Street Connector/Route 34 which intersects just south of the I-95/I-91 interchange and runs northwest as a spur into downtown. The Route 15 Parkway, also known as the
Wilbur Cross Parkway, runs just north of the city, through the outer rim of New Haven, and Hamden. New Haven is also the site of the only highway tunnel in the state (Route 15). The tunnel runs through West Rock, home to West Rock Park and 3 Judges cave.
Airports
Tweed-New Haven Airport located along the New Haven/
East Haven border provides daily service through US Airways. Jet service returned to Tweed New Haven in May 2004 after a long absence, but was discontinued in January 2006. It is quite common for locals to use
Bradley International Airport in
Windsor Locks, or New York City's
LaGuardia Airport or
JFK International or
Newark, New Jersey's
Newark Liberty International Airport, when flying overseas or to a non-Eastern destination.
Power supply facilities
Electricity for New Haven is generated by 448 MW oil and gas-fired generating station located on the shore at New Haven Harbor [
4]. In addition, Pensylvania Power and Light (PPL) Inc. operates a 220MW peaking natural gas turbine plant in nearby Wallingford.Near New Haven there is the
static inverter plant of the
HVDC Cross Sound Cable.
New Haven encourages its citizens to gain a global awareness by forging links with
sister cities, including:
*
Afula-Gilboa,
Israel*
Amalfi,
Italy*
Avignon,
France*
Freetown,
Sierra Leone*
Hue,
Vietnam*
León,
NicaraguaSome of these were selected because of historical connection â€" Freetown because of the Amistad trial. Others, such as Amalfi and Afula-Gilboa, reflect ethnic groups in New Haven.
In 1990, the
United Nations named New Haven a "Peace Messenger City."
*
Ben Allison, jazz double bass player
*
Bruce Altman, actor
*
Henry Austin, architect
*
Roger Sherman Baldwin, attorney
*
Lyman Beecher, clergyman and abolitionist
*
George W. Bush, current
President of the United States*
Al Capp, cartoonist
*
Karen and Richard Carpenter, singers/musicians
*
Tommy Corcoran,
major league baseball player
[ ]*
Rosa DeLauro, Congresswoman
*
Josiah Willard Gibbs,
mathematical physicist, founder of
physical chemistry, creator of
vector analysis*
Emma Goldman, anarchist/feminist
*
Fred Goldsmith (1856-1939), 19th-Century pro baseball pitcher, co-inventor of the
curveball, along with pitcher
Candy Cummings.
*
Charles Goodyear, inventor
*
Gerry Hemingway (jazz percussionist and composer)
*
Jack Hitt, author, contributing editor
Harper's magazine
*
Charles Ives, composer
*
Norman Lear, television producer
*
Joe Lieberman, vice-presidential candidate, 2000; U.S. Senator for Connecticut
*
Floyd Little, American football running back
*
Paul MacCready, inventor
*
Robert Moses, architect and urban planner
*
George Lloyd Murphy, dancer, actor and politician
*
César Pelli, architect
*
Liz Phair, musician
*
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Congressman
*
Jesse Richards, artist and filmmaker
*
Emily Saliers, singer-songwriter and member of the
Indigo Girls*
Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr., businessman and former chief of
General Motors*
Allen Stack, swimmer
*
Benjamin Spock, pediatrician and author
*
Ithiel Town, architect and civil engineer
*
Eli Whitney, inventor and innovator
* Leonard Bacon,
Thirteen Historical Discourses, (New Haven, 1839)
* C. H. Hoadley (editor),
Records of the Colony of New Haven, 1638-1665, (two volumes, Hartford, 1857-58)
* J. W. Barber,
History and Antiquities of New Haven, (third edition, New Haven, 1870)
* C. H. Levermore,
Town and City Government of New Haven, (Baltimore, 1886)
* C. H. Levermore,
Republic of New Haven: A History of Municipal Evolution, (Baltimore, 1886)
* E. S. Bartlett,
Historical Sketches of New Haven, (New Haven, 1897)
* F. H. Cogswell, "New Haven" in L. P. Powell (editor),
Historic Towns of New England, (New York, 1898)
* H. T. Blake,
Chronicles of New Haven Green, (New Haven, 1898)
* E. E. Atwater,
History of the Colony of New Haven, (New edition, New Haven, 1902)
* Douglas W. Rae,
City: Urbanism and Its End, (New Haven, 2003)
*
New Haven City Yearbooks* Michael Sletcher,
New Haven: From Puritanism to the Age of Terrorism, (Charleston, 2004)
*
City of New Haven official Web site*
InfoNewHaven.com - Your destination for New Haven happenings including concerts, plays, exhibits and more*
Historical New Haven Digital Collection*
Yale Economic Review article on biotech in New Haven*
Life in the Model City: Stories of Urban Renewal in New Haven â€" online exhibit by the New Haven Oral History Project*
"Who Really Ruled in Dahl's New Haven?" by G. William Domhoff â€" examination of power structures in New Haven and Yale in the 1960s
*
The New Haven Independent neighborhood-based online newspaper
*
NewHavenWeb - A Comprehensive Online Directory of New Haven*
Cluefest - New Haven's annual city-wide scavenger hunt*
Audubon Strings -- The string musicians portal
