New Britain is a city inHartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately 9 miles (14 km) southwest ofHartford. The city is part of theCapitol Planning Region. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the city is 74,135.[4]
The city's official nickname is the "Hardware City" because of its history as a manufacturing center and as the headquarters ofStanley Black & Decker. Because of its largePolish population, the city is often playfully referred to as "New Britski".[5]
Chartered in 1850 as a township and in 1871 as a city, New Britain had separated from the nearby towns ofFarmington andBerlin, Connecticut. A consolidation charter was adopted in 1905.
During the early part of the 20th century, New Britain was known as the "Hardware Capital of the World", as well as "Hardware City". Major manufacturers, such asThe Stanley Works, theP&F Corbin Company (founded 1848, later Corbin Locks),Landers, Frary & Clark (LF&C) founded 1842, Union Manufacturing Company, founded in 1866[8] and North & Judd, were headquartered in the city.
Postcard: West Main Street, pre-1907
In 1843Frederick Trent Stanley established Stanley's Bolt Manufactory in New Britain to make door bolts and other wrought-iron hardware. In 1857 his cousin Henry Stanley founded The Stanley Rule and Level Company in the city. Planes invented byLeonard Bailey and manufactured by the Stanley Rule and Level Company, known as "Stanley/Bailey" planes, were prized by woodworkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and remain popular among wood craftsmen today. The two companies merged in 1920, and the Stanley Rule and Level Company became the Hand Tools Division of Stanley Works.
In 1938, New Britain High School competed in the high school football national championship game in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The year 1954 saw the development ofracquetball, also at the YMCA.[9]
The heads of the fire and police departments and seven other municipal employees were arrested as part of a corruption scandal in the 1970s.[10]
Union Manufacturing produced stainless steelthermos flasks, amongst other things, registering the trademark for Uno-Vac in 1967;[11] it closed its factory doors in 1986.[8]
New Britain's motto,Industria implet alveare et melle fruitur—translated from Latin—means "Industry fills the hive and enjoys the honey." This phrase was coined byElihu Burritt, a 19th-century New Britain resident, diplomat, philanthropist and social activist.
In 2007 it was reported that the Latin word for "honey" in the motto had been a typo for decades; it should bemelle, but it had long been misspelled asmele. Former mayor William McNamara, who unsuccessfully tried to fix it during his term, suggested "to either fix the spelling immediately" or "switch to the English version of the motto."[12][13] As controversy arose from the matter, the word was superseded with the correct spelling,melle.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.4 square miles (34.7 km2), of which 13.3 square miles (34.6 km2) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 km2) (0.52%) is water.
New Britain's terrain is mostly made up of gentle, rolling hills and young Connecticut forest. The many parks are populated with trees, and in small, undeveloped areas, there are also brushy woods. New Britain's streets also have many trees lining the sides of the roads. Many front yards in the northern half of the city have at least one tree. One or two streams flow through New Britain, undisturbed by the development.
There were 28,261 households, out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.4% weremarried couples living together, 25.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.7% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.23.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.6% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 88 males.
In 2021, the median income for a household in the city was $51,586, and for a family, was $67,482. Theper capita income for the city was $26,152. 19.9% of the population below the poverty line. The poverty rate was 15.4% for White Non-Hispanic residents, and 25.7% for Hispanic or Latino residents).[22]
New Britain has the largestPolish population of any city in Connecticut, and by 1930 a quarter of the city was ethnically Polish.[23] Also referred to as "Little Poland", the city's Broad Street neighborhood has been home to a considerable number of Polish businesses and families since 1890. On September 23, 2008, through the urging of the Polonia Business Association, the New Britain City Council unanimously passed a resolution officially designating New Britain's Broad Street area as "Little Poland".[24] In recent years, the Polish community has been credited with revitalizing the area both culturally and economically. Media is served by three Polish language newspapers and a television station, and many businesses and civil agencies are bilingual. Thepost office branch in Little Poland is the only one in the nation with the word "post" written in Polish to welcome visitors. Each year, a Little Poland festival is held on a Sunday in the spring.
Natives of New Britain have a fairly unmarkedConnecticut accent, though there is some local perception of a distinct accent, popularly attributed to the Polish-American community, such as the use of aglottal stop in place of/t/ before syllabic/l/: in other words, in words likecattle andbottle.[33] The short "a" vowel/æ/ as inTRAP may be raised to[ɛə] for some speakers in Connecticut, including New Britain, though this feature appears to be declining among younger residents.[34]
New Britain is home to the global headquarters of the Fortune 500 manufacturing conglomerateStanley Black & Decker. Other notable companies headquartered in New Britain includeGaffney, Bennett and Associates,Tomasso Group, Creed Monarch, Guida's Dairy, and Polamer Precision.
Walnut Hill Rose Garden, the recently restored landmark with over 800 roses
Connecticut Theatre Company, located in the historic Repertory Theatre of New Britain
Hole in the Wall Theater
New Britain Youth Museum, contains children's artifacts and exhibits on regional culture
The Polish district or "Little Poland": Located primarily in the vicinity of Broad Street, visitors can find unique amber jewelry, handcrafted items, blown glass, Christmas ornaments, and carved chess sets, as well as eat Polish food.
New Britain Fagan Cal Ripken Baseball League, a youth baseball program that serves children from the City of New Britain between the ages of 4 and 12
New Britain Little League (NBLL, previously known as Walicki – A.W. Stanley Little League), a youth baseball and softball organization that serves the children of New Britain between the ages of 4 and 16
Connecticut United Football Club, a professional soccer team affiliated with the American Soccer League[39]
The Holy Cross Catholic School was established in 1954. The Holy Cross, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Joseph Catholic schools merged into Saint John Paul II School in 2006; the Holy Cross parish sponsored the consolidated school. The archdiocese closed the SJP School in 2015.[43] At the time of its closing, SJP school had debts of over $300,000.[44]
New Britain has a nearbyAmtrak station in adjacentBerlin. TheVermonter (once daily) andAmtrakHartford Line (multiple daily arrivals/departures) provide service to destinations throughout the northeastern United States. There is also a Berlin stop on theCT RailHartford Line, which provides northbound service toHartford andSpringfield, and southbound service towardsNew Haven.
Thomas J. Meskill (1928–2007), New Britain mayor (1962–1964), governor (1971–1975), appointed byRichard Nixon to the US Court of Appeals for 2nd Circuit (1975–2007)
Chris Murphy (born 1973), U.S. congressman for5th CT district (2007–2013) and U.S. senator for Connecticut (2013–present)
Abraham A. Ribicoff (1910–1998), congressman (1949–1953), governor (1955–1961), Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (1961–1962), U.S. senator from Connecticut (1963–1981)
Core cities are metropolitan core cities of at least a million people. The other areas are urban areas of cities that have an urban area of 150,000+ or of a metropolitan area of at least 250,000+. Satellite cities are in italics.
.jpg)
