Hartford: “The City of Hartford” Arriving at the Foot of State Street in 1870

Hartford, State Capital of Connecticut, lies on the west bank of the winding Connecticut River at the head of deep water navigation, some sixty miles north of its confluence with Long Island Sound. Widely recognized as a hub of the insurance industry, a noted resident, Mark Twain once remarked that it was also the “city of the historic and revered charter oak, of which most of the town is built”.

In this painting the venerable river steamer “City of Hartford” makes a delayed arrival from New York under a full moon. The scene shows the city’s steamboat terminal at the foot of State Street as friends and family members assemble to greet arriving passengers. The nearby tavern does brisk business while a coach waits to take transit passengers to a hotel for the night. When the “City of Hartford,” owned by the newly formed Hartford and New York Steamboat Company, first arrived in the Connecticut River in 1852 she heralded a new era. An enthusiastic welcome was to await the handsome new vessel. Bonfires were lit along the riverbank, cannons were fired and “every demonstration of joy was manifested at her appearance.” A hog framed side wheeler of 970 tons, she was to stay in service on the river for thirty four years, latterly under the name “Capital City” following extensive remodeling. Lavishly decorated with Brussells carpets, velvet tapestries, rosewood furniture and with curtains of satin brocatelle, it was said that passengers would be “equally at home in her main deck saloon as in their front parlor ashore!”

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