After Dutch explorer Adriaen Block visited
the area in 1614, fur traders from the New Netherland colony set up trade at
Fort Goede Hoop (Good Hope) at the confluence of the Connecticut and Park Rivers
as early as 1623, but abandoned their post by 1654. Today, the neighborhood
near the site is still known as Dutch Point. The first English settlers arrived
in 1635 and their settlement was originally called Newtown, but was renamed
Hartford in 1637. The name "Hartford" was chosen to honor the English
town of Hertford (pronounced "Hartford") in Hertfordshire, home of
Samuel Stone, one of the settlers
