New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven’s population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state’s five largest cities,^{[citation needed]} and most cities in the northeastern part of the U.S.^{[citation needed]} It is the home of the Ivy League school Yale University. The university is an integral part of the city’s economy, being New Haven’s biggest taxpayer and employer,^[2] as noted in the Mayor’s 2010 State of the City address.^[3] Health care (hospitals and biotechnology), professional services (legal, architectural, marketing, and engineering), financial services, and retail trade also help to form an economic base for the city.

With a population of 129,779 people,^[1] New Haven is the principal municipality in the Greater New Haven metropolitan area, which had a total population of 571,310 in 2000.^[4][5] It is located in New Haven County, on New Haven Harbor, on the northern shore of Long Island Sound.

New Haven was founded in 1638 by English puritans, and a year later eight streets were laid out in a four-by-four grid, creating what is now commonly known as the “Nine Square Plan,”^[6] now recognized by the American Institute of Certified Planners as a National Historic Planning Landmark. The central common block is New Haven Green, a 16-acre (6 ha) square, now a National Historic Landmark and the center of Downtown New Haven.

New Haven had the first public tree planting program in America, producing a canopy of mature trees (including some large elms) that gave New Haven the nickname “The Elm City”.^[7]

 

Culture and notable features

Architecture

New Haven has many architectural landmarks dating from every important time period and architectural style in American history. The city has been home to a number of architects and architectural firms that have also left their mark on the city including Ithiel Town and Henry Austin in the 19th century and Cesar Pelli, Warren Platner, Kevin Roche, Herbert Newman and Barry Svigals in the 20th. The Yale School of Architecture has fostered this important component of the city’s economy. Cass Gilbert, of the Beaux-Arts school, designed New Haven’s Union Station and the New Haven Free Public Library and was also commissioned for a City Beautiful plan in 1919. Frank Lloyd Wright, Marcel Breuer,Alexander Jackson Davis, Philip C. Johnson, Gordon Bunshaft, Louis Kahn, James Gamble Rogers, Frank Gehry, Charles Willard Moore, Stefan Behnisch, James Polshek, Paul Rudolph, Eero Saarinen and Robert Venturi all have designed buildings in New Haven. Yale’s 1950s-era Ingalls Rink, designed by Eero Saarinen, was included on the America’s Favorite Architecture list created in 2007.^[77]

Many of the city’s neighborhoods are well-preserved as walkable “museums” of 19th and 20th century American architecture, particularly by theNew Haven Green, Hillhouse Avenue and other residential sections close to Downtown New Haven. Overall, a large proportion of the city’s land area is National (NRHP) historic districts. One of the best sources on local architecture is “New Haven: Architecture and Urban Design”, by Elizabeth Mills Brown.^[78]

Cuisine

There are 95 top Zagat-rated restaurants in New Haven, the second most in Connecticut and the fourth most in New England (after Boston, Stamford and Cambridge).^[80] More than 120 restaurants are located within two blocks of the New Haven Green.^[81] The city is home to an eclectic mix of ethnic restaurants and small markets specializing in various foreign foods.^[82][83] Represented cuisines include Malaysian, Ethiopian, Spanish, French, Greek, Latin, Mexican, Italian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Indian, Jamaican, Cuban, Peruvian, Syrian/Lebanese, and Turkish.^[84]

New Haven’s greatest culinary claim to fame may be its pizza, which has been claimed to be among the best in the country,^{[85][86][87][88]} or even in the world.^[89][90] New-Haven-style pizza, called apizza (pronounced ah-BEETS in the local dialect), made its debut at the iconic Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (known as Pepe’s) in 1925.^[91] Apizza is baked in coal- or wood-fired brick ovens, and is notable for its thin crust. Apizza may be Red (with a tomato-based sauce) or White (with a sauce of garlic and olive oil), and pies ordered “plain” are made without the otherwise customary mozzarella cheese (pronounced sca-MOTZ, as it was originally smoked mozzarella, known as “scamorza” in Italian). A white clam pie is a well known specialty of the restaurants on Wooster Street in the Little Italy section of New Haven, including Pepe’s and Sally’s Apizza (which opened in 1938). Modern Apizza, which opened in 1934 and is located on State Street, is also well-known.^[92]

A second New Haven gastronomical claim to fame is Louis’ Lunch, which is located in a small brick building on Crown Street and has been serving fast food since 1895.^[93] Though fiercely debated, the restaurant’s founder Louis Lassen is credited by the Library of Congress with inventing the hamburgerand steak sandwich.^[94][95] Louis’ Lunch broils hamburgers, steak sandwiches and hot dogs vertically in original antique 1898 cast iron stoves using gridirons, patented by local resident Luigi Pieragostini in 1939, that hold the meat in place while it cooks.^[96]

New Haven is home to Miya’s Sushi, one of America’s first sustainable sushi restaurants. Miya’s offers the largest vegetarian sushi menu in the world.^[97][98][99]

Over 150 lunch carts from neighborhood restaurants that cater to different student populations throughout Yale’s campus during weekday lunchtime.^[100] The carts cluster at three main points: by Yale-New Haven Hospital in the center of the Hospital Green (Cedar and York Streets), by Yale’s Trumbull College (Elm and York Streets), and on the intersection of Prospect and Sachem Streets by the Yale School of Management.^[101] Popular Farmers’ Markets set up shop weekly in several neighborhoods including Westville/Edgewood Park, Fair Haven, Upper State Street, Wooster Square, and Downtown/New Haven Green.

Theatre and film

The city hosts numerous theatres and production houses including the Yale Repertory Theatre, the Long Wharf Theatre, and the Shubert Theatre. There is also theatre activity from the Yale School of Drama, which works through the Yale University Theatre and the student-run Yale Cabaret. Southern Connecticut State University hosts the Lyman Center for the Performing Arts. The shuttered Palace Theatre (oppostite the Shubert Theater) was rumored to being re-opened in 2008, but new development there is on hold. Smaller theaters include the Little Theater on Lincoln Street and the soon to open Co-op High School Theater on College Street.

The Shubert Theater once premiered many major theatrical productions before their Broadway debuts. Productions that premiered at the Shubert include Oklahoma! (which was also written in New Haven^[102]), Carousel, South Pacific, My Fair Lady, The King and I, and The Sound of Music, as well as the Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire.

Bow Tie Cinemas owns and operates the Criterion Cinemas, the first new movie theater to open in New Haven in over 30 years and the first luxury movie complex in the city’s history. The Criterion has 7 screens and opened in November, 2004 showing a mix of upscale first run commercial and independent film.^[103]

Museums

New Haven has a variety of museums, many of them associated with Yale. The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library features an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible. There is also the Connecticut Children’s Museum; the Knights of Columbus museum near that organization’s world headquarters; the Peabody Museum of Natural History; the Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments; the Eli Whitney museum (across the town line in Hamden, Connecticut, on Whitney Avenue); the Yale Center for British Art, which houses the largest collection of British art outside the U.K.,^[104] and the Yale University Art Gallery, the nation’s oldest college art museum.^{[citation needed]} New Haven is also home to the New Haven Museum and Historical Society on Whitney Avenue, which also has a library of many primary source treasures dating from Colonial times to the present.

Artspace on Orange Street is one of several contemporary art galleries around the city, showcasing the work of local, national, and international artists. Others include City Gallery, A. Leaf Gallery in the downtown area. Westville galleries include Kehler Liddell, Jennifer Jane Gallery, and The Hungry Eye. The Erector Square complex in the Fair Haven neighborhood houses the Parachute Factory gallery along with numerous artist studios, and the complex serves as an active destination during City-Wide Open Studiosheld yearly in October.

New Haven is also the home port of a life-size replica of the historical Freedom Schooner Amistad, which is open for tours at Long Wharf pier at certain times during the summer. Also at Long Wharf pier is the Quinnipiack schooner, offering sailing cruises of the harbor area throughout the summer. The Quinnipiack also functions as a floating classroom for hundreds of local students.

Music

The New Haven Green is the site of many free music concerts, especially during the summer months. These have included the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the July Free Concerts on the Green in July, and the New Haven Jazz Festival in August. The Jazz Festival, which began in 1982, was one of the longest-running free outdoor festivals in the U.S., until it was canceled for 2007. Headliners such as The Breakfast, Dave Brubeck, Ray Charles and Celia Cruz have historically drawn 30,000 to 50,000 fans, filling up the New Haven Green to capacity. The New Haven Jazz Festival has been revived for 2008 and 2009 under the sponsorship of Jazz Haven.[3]

New Haven is also home to the concert venue Toad’s Place. The city has retained an alternative art and music underground that has helped to influence post-punk era music movements such as indie, college rock and underground hip-hop. Other local venues include Cafe Nine, BAR, Firehouse 12, and Rudy’s.

The Yale School of Music also contributes to the city’s music scene by offering hundreds of free concerts throughout the year at venues in and around the Yale campus. Hardcore Band, Hatebreed are from Wallingford, but got their start in New Haven under the name Jasta 14. The bandMiracle Legion formed in New Haven in 1983.

Festivals

In addition to the Jazz Festival (described above), New Haven serves as the home city of the annual International Festival of Arts and Ideas. New Haven’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade, which began in 1842, is New England‘s oldest St. Patty’s Day parade and draws the largest crowds of any one-day spectator event in Connecticut.^[105] The St. Andrew The Apostle Italian Festival has taken place in the historic Wooster Square neighborhood every year since 1900.^[106] New Haven celebrates Powder House Day every April on the New Haven Green to commemorate the city’s entrance into the American Revolutionary War. The Film Fest New Haven has been held annually since 1995.

Nightlife

In the past decade downtown has seen an influx of new restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. Large crowds are drawn to the Crown Street area downtown on weekends where many of the restaurants and bars are located. Crown Street between State and High Streets has dozens of establishments as do nearby Temple and College Streets. Away from downtown, Upper State Street also has a number of restaurants and bars popular with local residents and weekend visitors.

Newspapers and media

New Haven is served by the daily New Haven Register, the weekly “alternative” (which is corporate run by Tribune, the company owning The Hartford Courant) New Haven Advocate, the online daily New Haven Independent, and the monthly Grand News Community Newspaper. The city’s Spanish-speaking community is served by Registro, a Spanish-language twice-weekly operated by The New Haven Register’s parent company. Downtown New Haven is covered by an in-depth civic news forum, Design New Haven. The Register also backs PLAYmagazine, a weekly entertainment publication. It is also served by several student-run papers, including the Yale Daily News, the weekly Yale Herald and a humor tabloid, Rumpus Magazine. WTNH Channel 8, the ABC affiliate for Connecticut, WCTX Channel 59, the MyNetworkTV affiliate for the state, and Connecticut Public Television station WEDY channel 65, aPBS affiliate, broadcast from New Haven. All New York City news and sports team stations broadcast to New Haven County

Though both WTNH and WCTX are located in New Haven, CT, their Master Control, and Traffic departments are located in Springfield, Massachusetts in a former section of the city called Chicopee.

Sports and athletics

New Haven has a history of professional sports franchises dating back to the 19th century^[107] and has been the home to professional baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer teams—including the New York Giants of the National Football League from 1973 to 1974, who played at Yale Bowl. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, New Haven consistently had minor league hockey and baseball teams, which played at the New Haven Arena (build in 1926, demolished in 1972), New Haven Coliseum (1972–2002), and Yale Field (1928–present).

When John DeStefano, Jr., became mayor of New Haven in 1995, he outlined a plan to transform the city into a major cultural and arts center in the Northeast, which involved investments in programs and projects other than sports franchises. As nearby Bridgeportbuilt new sports facilities, the brutalist New Haven Coliseum rapidly deteriorated. Believing the upkeep on the venue to be a drain of tax dollars, the DeStefano administration closed the Coliseum in 2002; it was demolished in 2007. New Haven’s last professional sports team, the New Haven County Cutters, left in 2009. The DeStefano administration did, however, see the construction of the New Haven Athletic Center in 1998, a 94,000-square-foot (8,700 m²) indoor athletic facility with a seating capacity of over 3,000. The NHAC, built adjacent to Hillhouse High School, is used for New Haven public schools athletics, as well as large-scale area and state sporting events; it is the largest high school indoor sports complex in the state.^{[108][109][110]}

New Haven was the host of the 1995 Special Olympics World Summer Games; then-President Bill Clinton spoke at the Opening Ceremonies.^[111] The city is home to the Pilot Pen International tennis event, which takes place every August at the Connecticut Tennis Center, one the largest tennis venues in the world.^[112] New Haven biannually hosts “The Game” between Yale and Harvard, the country’s second-oldest college football rivalry. Numerous road races take place in New Haven, including the USA 20K Championship during the New Haven Road Race.^[113]

Greater New Haven is home to a number of college sports teams. The Yale Bulldogs play Division I college sports, as do the Quinnipiac Bobcats in neighboring Hamden. Division II athletics are played by Southern Connecticut State University and the University of New Haven (actually located in neighboring West Haven), while Albertus Magnus College athletes perform at the Division III level.

New Haven is a battleground city between fans of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.^[114] Walter Camp, deemed the “father of American football,” was a New Havener.

The New Haven Warriors rugby league team play in the AMNRL. They have a large amount of Pacific Islander playing for them.^[115] Their field is located at the West Haven High School‘sKen Strong Stadium.^[116] They won the 2008 AMNRL Grand Final.^[117]

Historic points of interest

Many historical sites exist throughout the city, including 59 properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Of these, nine are among the 60 U.S. National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut. The New Haven Green, one of the National Historic Landmarks, was formed in 1638, and is home to three 19th century churches. Below one of the churches (referred to as the Center Church on-the-Green) lies a 17th century crypt, which is open to visitors (some of the more famous burials include the first wife of Benedict Arnold and the aunt and grandmother of President Rutherford B. Hayes; Hayes visited the crypt while President in 1880).^[118] The Old Campus of Yale University is located next to the Green, and includes Connecticut Hall, Yale’s oldest building and a National Historic Landmark. The Hillhouse Avenue area, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a part of Yale’s campus, has been called a walkable museum, due to its 19th century mansions and street scape; Charles Dickens is said to have called Hillhouse Avenue “the most beautiful street in America” when visiting the city in 1868.^[119]

In 1660, Edward Whalley (a cousin and friend of Oliver Cromwell) and William Goffe, two English Civil War generals who signed the death warrant of King Charles I, hid in a rock formation in New Haven after having fled England upon the restoration of Charles II to the English throne.^[120] They were later joined by a third regicide, John Dixwell. The rock formation, which is now a part of West Rock Park, is known as Judges’ Cave, and the path leading to the cave is called Regicides Trail.

After the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1776, the Connecticut colonial government ordered the construction of Black Rock Fort (to be built on top of an older 17th century fort) to protect the port of New Haven. In 1779, during the Battle of New Haven, British soldiers captured Black Rock Fort and burned the barracks to the ground. The fort was reconstructed in 1807 by the federal government (on orders from theThomas Jefferson administration), and rechristened Fort Nathan Hale, after the Revolutionary War hero who had lived in New Haven. The cannons of Fort Nathan Hale were successful in defying British war ships during the War of 1812. In 1863, during the American Civil War, asecond Fort Hale was built next to the original, complete with bomb-resistant bunkers and a moat, to defend the city should a Southern raidagainst New Haven be launched. The United States Congress deeded the site to the state in 1921, and all three versions of the fort have been restored. The site is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and receives thousands of visitors each year.^[121][122]

Grove Street Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark which lies adjacent to Yale’s campus, contains the graves of Roger Sherman, Eli Whitney,Noah Webster, Charles Goodyear and Walter Camp, among other notable burials.^[123] The cemetery is also known for its grand Egyptian Revivalgateway. The Union League Club of New Haven building, located on Chapel Street, is notable for not only being a historic Beaux-Arts building, but also is built on the site where Roger Sherman’s home once stood; George Washington is known to have stayed at the Sherman residence while President in 1789 (one of three times Washington visited New Haven throughout his lifetime).^[124][125]

Two sites pay homage to the time President and Chief Justice William Howard Taft lived in the city, as both a student and later Professor at Yale: a plaque on Prospect Street marks the site where Taft’s home formerly stood ^[126] and downtown’s Taft Apartment Building (formerly the Taft Hotel) bears the name of the former President who resided in the building for eight years before becoming Chief Justice of the United States.^[102]

Lighthouse Point Park, a public beach run by the city, was a popular tourist destination during the Roaring Twenties, attracting luminaries of the period such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.^[127] The park remains popular among New Haveners, and is home to both the Five Mile PointLighthouse, constructed in 1847, and the Lighthouse Point Carousel, constructed in 1916.^[128][129] Five Mile Point was decommissioned in 1877 following the construction of Southwest Ledge Light at the entrance of the harbor, which remains in service to this day. Both of the lighthouses and the carousel are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Other historic sites in the city include the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, which stands at the summit of East Rock, the Marsh Botanical Garden, Wooster Square, Dwight Street, Louis’ Lunch, and the Farmington Canal, all of which date back to the 19th century. Other historic parks besides the Green include Edgerton Park, Edgewood Park, and East Rock Park, each of which is included on the National Register of Historic Places.

Miscellaneous

Popular culture references

New Haven has been depicted in a number of movies. Scenes in the film All About Eve (1950) are set at the Taft Hotel (now Taft Apartments) on the corner of College and Chapel Streets, and the history of New Haven theaters as Broadway “tryouts” is depicted in the Fred Astaire filmThe Band Wagon (1953). The city was fictionally portrayed in the Steven Spielberg movie Amistad (1997) concerning the events around the mutiny trial of that ship’s rebelling captives. New Haven was also fictionalized in the movie The Skulls (2000), which focused on conspiracy theories surrounding the real-life Skull and Bones secret society which is located in New Haven. It is also the town where famous American Rock Band “The Doors” were thrown out of when lead singer Jim Morrison was arrested and for harassment of an officer. Supposedly Jim was mistaken for a fan being backstage, and was assaulted by one of the security officers working the show. Jim later in the show spoke of the incident to the audience and was arrested for distubing the peace, and harassment of an officer.

Several recent movies have been filmed in New Haven, including Mona Lisa Smile (2003), with Julia Roberts, The Life Before Her Eyes (2007), with Uma Thurman, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Harrison Ford,Cate Blanchett and Shia LaBeouf.^[130] The filming of Crystal Skull involved an extensive chase sequence through the streets of New Haven. Several downtown streets were closed to traffic and received a “makeover” to look like streets of 1957, when the film is set. 500 locals were cast as extras for the film.^[131][132] InEverybody’s Fine (2009), Robert DeNiro has a close encounter in what is supposed to be the Denver train station; the scene was filmed in New Haven’s Union Station.

New Haven is repeatedly referenced by Nick Carraway in F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s literary classic The Great Gatsby, as well as by fellow fictional Yale alumnus C. Montgomery Burns, a character from The Simpsons television show. The TV show Gilmore Girls is set (but not filmed) in New Haven and at Yale University, as are scenes in the film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008).

New Haven was the location of one of Jim Morrison‘s infamous arrests while he fronted the rock group The Doors. The near-riotous concert and arrest in 1967 at the New Haven Arena was commemorated by Morrison in the lyrics to “Peace Frog” which include the line “…blood in the streets in the town of New Haven…”^[133] This was also the first time a rock star had ever been arrested in concert.^{[citation needed]} This event is also portrayed in the movie The Doors (1991), starring Val Kilmer as Morrison, with a concert hall in Los Angeles used to depict the New Haven Arena.^[134]

Pat Benatar released a DVD entitled “Live in New Haven” which shows a 1983 live concert performed at the New Haven Coliseum. Van Halen also has a DVD, “Live Without a Net” which was filmed at the Coliseum in 1986.^[135] New Haven and Louis’ Lunch are depicted in the documentary “Hamburger America” (2004).^[136]

Notable inventions and formations

1638: New Haven (arguably) becomes the first-planned city in America.

1776: Yale Student David Bushnell invents the first American submarine.

1787: John Fitch builds the first steam boat.

1793: Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin.

1836: Samuel Colt invents the automatic revolver in Whitney’s factory

1839: Charles Goodyear of New Haven discovers the process of vulcanizing rubber.

1860: Philios P. Blake patents the first corkscrew.

1877: New Haven hosted the first Bell PSTN (telephone) switch office.

1878-1880: The District Telephone Company of New Haven created the world’s first telephone exchange, the first telephone directory and installed the first public phone. The company expanded and became the Connecticut Telephone Company, then the Southern New England Telephone Company (now part of AT&T).^[137]

1882: the Knights of Columbus was founded in New Haven. The city still serves as the world headquarters of the organization, which maintains a museum downtown.^[138]

1892: Local confectioner George C. Smith of the Bradley Smith Candy Co. invented the first lollipops.^[139]

Late 19th century-early 20th century: The first public tree planting program takes place in New Haven, at the urging of native James Hillhouse.^[140]

1900: Louis Lassen, owner of Louis’ Lunch, is credited with inventing the hamburger, as well as the steak sandwich.^[141]

1911: The Erector Set, the popular and culturally important construction toy, was invented in New Haven by A.C. Gilbert, and was manufactured by the A. C. Gilbert Company at the Erector Square, from 1913 until the company’s bankruptcy in 1967.^[142]

1920: In competition with competing explanations, the Frisbee is said to have originated on the Yale campus, based on the tin pans of the Frisbie Pie Company which were tossed around by students on the New Haven Green.^[143]

1977: The first memorial to victims of the Holocaust on public land in America^[144] stands in New Haven’s Edgewood Park at the corner of Whalley and West Park Avenues; it was built with funds collected from the community^[145] and is maintained by Greater New Haven Holocaust Memory, Inc.^[146] The ashes of victims killed and cremated at Auschwitz are buried under the memorial.^[144]

The Greater New Haven Convention and Visitors Bureau has a more extensive list of New Haven firsts which can be found here.