Hartford has History - Arts and Culture: half-day tour

History has been made in Hartford since 1636 when it was founded by English migrants from the Boston area. (Of course, what's now Hartford was populated by several Native American tribes long before Europeans "discovered" it. ) Hartford witnessed more than a few noteworthy political incidents through its history. . . the Fundamental Orders, the Charter Oak caper, the Hartford Convention, the first Amistad trial, to name a few. But Hartford was also home to some big-time - and lesser - authors and entertainers, even the first president of baseball's National League. Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe were neighbors who shared a lawn. Noah Webster, the word guy, lived nearby (his house is across the street from mine), as did poets Lydia Sigourney and Wallace Stevens. Turn of the 20th century theatrical star William Gillette was from Hartford. And Hollywood legend Katharine Hepburn was born here. The oldest public art museum in the US, the Wadsworth Atheneum, is in Hartford.