Learn About West Hartford CT

The town of West Hartford lies within Hartford County, Connecticut, 5 miles west of downtown Hartford. In the 2010 census, its population was 64,083.

West Hartford Center, also known as just “The Center”, is the town’s thriving downtown area bounded by Farmington Avenue and South/North Main Street. Since the late 17th century, West Hartford Center has served as the central hub of the community.

Prior to becoming a town in 1854, West Hartford had been a parish of Hartford, founded in 1672. West Hartford is home to the University of Hartford as well as the University of Saint Joseph.

In winter, the Wampanoag people used West Hartford as a camp. The Wampanoag people used the area of West Hartford for fishing and hunting along the Connecticut River during the cold winter and severe spring flooding. 

The Reverend Thomas Hooker led a group of followers from Cambridge, Massachusetts to the “Great River” in 1636, where they established Hartford, Connecticut, and the Connecticut Colony. New land was needed as the colony grew. 

The Proprietors of Hartford ordered the creation of a Division west of Hartford. Between Mountain Road in the west and Quaker Lane in the east, a total of 72 “Long Lots” were laid out. The northern boundary was Bloomfield, and the southern boundary was New Britain Avenue. During the 1830s, a portion of Farmington was included in the western boundary. 

The area was known as the “West Division” of Hartford in the 1670s. Until 1806 when the Connecticut General Assembly used the term “the Society of West Hartford,” this remained the official name.

Stephen Hosmer, whose father belonged to Hooker’s first group of Hartford settlers, is believed to have been the first homesteader in West Hartford. He had 300 acres just north of what is now Center. 

Stephen Hosmer’s father sent him to the property in 1679 so he could establish a sawmill. Despite moving back to Hartford later, Hosmer’s estate inventory from 1693 shows 310 acres in West Hartford, a house, and a sawmill. 

The property was passed down throughout the family for nearly a century. The remnants of Stephen Hosmer’s mill pond and dam can still be found on the west side of North Main Street, evidence of the town’s first industry.

During the American Revolution, the rugged wilderness had been cleared and a new agricultural-based community developed with a population of about 1,000 people and 3,000 sheep. At the center of this community was the parish meeting house.

Pottery and brick making were two of the first major industries to emerge. An extensive deposit of fine clay extends from Hartford to Berlin. Ebenezer Faxon came from Massachusetts in 1770 and settled in the Elmwood area of West Hartford. 

On South Road (what is now New Britain Avenue), he established a pottery that benefited from the local geological landscape. It was Seth Goodwin, however, who helped to establish a pottery dynasty.

Trout Brook Ice & Feed Company was founded by Edwin Arnold in 1879. A stream that runs through West Hartford, Trout Brook, supplied West Hartford with ice during the winter. The ice was harvested, sawn into blocks, and placed into icehouses by means of an escalator. 

The blocks of ice were encased in sawdust and were used for local refrigeration and shipped as far as New York City. At the end of the 19th century, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad ran through the southeast corner of Elmwood. 

From a sleepy crossroads to a modern suburb, West Hartford has been greatly impacted by transportation. Three turnpikes passed through West Hartford in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Around these roads sprouted taverns, blacksmith and wheelwright shops, general stores, and other businesses. 

The development of commerce and industry was greatly assisted by these byways, as can be seen on early maps. Then came trolleys – starting in 1845, Fred Brace ran a horse-drawn omnibus from his farm on Farmington Avenue to downtown Hartford. In 1889, horse-drawn trolley lines and eventually electric trolleys began to weave their way from Hartford’s inner city to the countryside of West Hartford. 

The trolley lines opened up an area previously inaccessible to many, and people and their families were able to establish themselves on Prospect Avenue, then north of Farmington Avenue.

Hartford began to experience an economic boom in the 1880s. As a result, Hartford’s business leaders began building mansions along Prospect Avenue. With an impressive view of the burgeoning city from its mile-long ridge, Prospect Hill soon became the most prestigious address in the area. 

In 1896, Frederick Law Olmsted designed Elizabeth Park, named for the wife of Charles M. Pond, who bequeathed the land to the city. Prospect Avenue is adjacent to Elizabeth Park. Hartford Golf Club opened its links in 1900 just west of Prospect Avenue on the other side of Asylum Avenue, adding to the area’s desirable suburban appeal.

Stanley Farm, a parcel sloping upward from the trolley line that ran along Farmington Avenue and across from Reservoir No. 1, was one of the town’s first subdivisions in 1895, created by Wood, Harmon and Company. In its promotional literature, Buena Vista was hailed as Hartford’s new and handsome neighborhood. Its proximity to Reservoir No. 1 and its “splendid suburban electric car service” were among its highlights.

Several other developments followed, including “Elmhurst” in Elmwood (1901) and Sunset Farm (1917). West Hill was the most exclusive of these early developments. The residence is located on the former estate of Cornelius Vanderbilt, son of the famous financier and transportation magnet. It was built by Horace R. Grant. 

In the 1950s, the main avenues, Albany, Asylum, and Farmington, became important commuter routes, and this made West Hartford attractive to middle-class families. To accommodate the growing population, the town constructed a new elementary school every year during this decade. 

Construction on Interstate 84 began in the 1960s and was completed in 1969. Among the many ramifications of the interstate, the most noticeable was that it divided the community, isolating the more industrial and ethnically diverse neighborhood of Elmwood in a physical barrier that separated it from the remainder of West Hartford. 

Bishops Corner is a development inaugurated in 1971. 

Westfarms Mall is located on the southwest edge of the town. It further transformed West Hartford’s retail scene when it opened in 1974. It was known for its lavish ceilings and waterfall-style fountain. With more than 1,300,000 square feet of stores and restaurants, it is Connecticut’s third largest mall and is conveniently connected to the town’s major arteries.

Located in the Center, Blue Back Square is a pioneer mixed-use development that blends retail and residential space on an expansive scale. There are 220,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor as well as 120 luxury apartments. There are 137,000 square feet of medical offices and 62,500 square feet of other professional offices.

The town has a total area of 22.3 square miles, according to the United States Census Bureau.

From Long Island Sound to Vermont, the mountainous trap rock ridgeline of Metacomet Ridge flanks the west side of West Hartford. In West Hartford, the Metacomet Ridge includes Talcott Mountain and a number of highland water reservoirs owned by the Metropolitan District, which manages the watershed and recreation resources on the property. 

West Hartford borders Hartford, the state capital, as well as Bloomfield, Newington, New Britain, Farmington, and Avon. There are about 100 miles between West Hartford and Boston and 120 miles between West Hartford and New York City. West Hartford is on Interstate 84.

According to the 2010 Census, the town had 63,268 residents, 25,258 households, and 16,139 families. The town’s racial composition was 79.6% White, 6.3% African American, 0.2% Native American, 7.4% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.8% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. 9.8% of the population was Hispanic or Latino.

The average size of a household was 2.42, while the average size of a family was 3.06.

West Hartford’s zip codes are 06105, 06119, 06107, 06127, 06110, 06133, 06117 and 06137.

West Hartford’s GPS coordinates are 41.7621° N, 72.7420° W.

The closest airport to West Hartford is Bradley International Airport.