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{{redirect|West Hartford|the unincorporated community in Missouri|West Hartford, Missouri|the community in Vermont|West Hartford, Vermont}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=JulyApril 20232024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = West Hartford, Connecticut
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Incorporated as a town in 1854, West Hartford was previously a parish of Hartford, founded in 1672.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.noahwebsterhouse.org/discover/ |title=History of West Hartford |website=Noah Webster House}}</ref> Among the southernmost of the communities in the [[Hartford-Springfield Knowledge Corridor]] metropolitan region, West Hartford is home to [[University of Hartford]] and the [[University of Saint Joseph (Connecticut)|University of Saint Joseph]].
 
West Hartford is home to regular events which draw large crowds from neighboring towns, including the Elizabeth Park Concert Series,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hartford.com/event/elizabeth-park-concert-series/all/|title=All events for Elizabeth Park Concert Series|website=hartford.com|access-date=2019-06-June 14, 2019}}</ref> and the annual Celebrate West Hartford event, which includes fairground rides, food vendors, musical performances, and stalls by local businesses.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.westhartfordct.gov/town-departments/leisure-services/celebrate-west-hartford|title=West Hartford - Celebrate! West Hartford|website=www.westhartfordct.gov|access-date=July 2, 2023-07-02}}</ref>
 
==History==
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By the time of the American Revolution, the once rugged wilderness had been largely clear and a new agricultural-based community had developed with a population of just over 1,000 residents and 3,000 sheep. At its core was the parish meeting house. The First Congregational Meeting House was [http://www.whfirstchurch.org/about/who/history/ built around 1712]. Now in its 5th building, the church stands proudly at what is now the southeast corner of Main Street and Farmington Avenue. As the focus of early religious, political, and social life, the meeting house helped to provide this area with a name, a title that it still holds today—"The Center."
 
Evidence in the [[Hartford Courant]] and in the 1790s census show that some of the more prosperous households relied on laborers and slaves for fieldwork and domestic help. The [[Sarah Whitman Hooker House]] was one such residence and still stands on New Britain Avenue. Evidence shows that the Hookers owned several slaves. One such slave, Bristow, bought his freedom from Thomas Hart Hooker in April 1775 as Hooker set off to fight in the Revolutionary War. Bristow continued to live with the family after Thomas Hart Hooker was killed in the war. Bristow became an agricultural expert and left his property to the Hookers' two children when he died. He is the only known African American to be buried in West Hartford's Old Center Burial Yard. West Hartford's Bristow Middle School is named in his honor.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://articles.courant.com/2013-07-10/community/hc-west-hartford-sarah-hooker-house-0703-20130701_1_historic-house-noah-webster-house-boarding-house |title=Study: Historic House Needs $200,000 Of Work |last=Stagis |first=Julia |date=July 10 July, 2013 |access-date=5 April 5, 2015 |publisher=The Hartford Courant}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bristow's History: Who Was Bristow? |url=https://bristow.whps.org/school-information/bristows-history |website=Bristow Middle School |publisher=West Hartford Public Schools |access-date=10 September 10, 2021}}</ref>
 
[[File:Noah Webster House (West Hartford, CT) - front facade.jpg|thumb|Noah Webster House – front facade]]
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[[File:Sarah Whitman Hooker House in West Hartford, August 22, 2008.jpg|thumb|Sarah Whitman Hooker House in West Hartford]]
 
In 1879 Edwin Arnold established the Trout Brook Ice & Feed Company. Ice from Trout Brook, a stream that runs through the middle of West Hartford, was harvested in the winter, sawn into blocks, and placed into a series of ice houses through an escalator system. Insulated in sawdust, the blocks of ice were used as refrigeration locally and shipped as far away as New York City. By the late 19th century, the [[New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad]] ran through part of Elmwood in the southeast corner of town. A variety of companies cropped up in this area including Whitlock Coil Pipe Company in 1891, and later [[Royal Typewriter Company|Royal Typewriter]], Wiremold, Abbot Ball, [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt's Manufacturing]] and Uncle Bill's Silver Grippers (producer of tweezers). The largest of West Hartford manufacturers was Pratt & Whitney (now [[Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems]], which later lent its name to [[Pratt & Whitney]], the aerospace corporation headquartered in [[East Hartford]]). In 1940 it built a plant on {{convert|20|acre|m2}} and at the height of World War II it employed over 7,000 people. It would stand until 1991, when Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems was acquired and operations were relocated to [[Plainville, Connecticut|Plainville]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.prattandwhitney.com/Content/History.asp |title=History |last=Pratt & Whitney |access-date=5 April 5, 2015}}</ref>
 
===A new town===
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It is transportation that has had the biggest impact on West Hartford and its evolution from sleepy crossroads to modern suburb. In the late 18th and early 19th century three [[Toll road|turnpikes]] ran through West Hartford. Around these roads, taverns, blacksmith and wheelwright shops, general stores and many other places of businesses sprang up. Early maps provide a sense of how important these byways were in the development of commerce and industry. Then came the trolleys—starting in 1845, Fred Brace began running a horse-drawn omnibus from his home on the corner of Farmington Avenue and Dale Street into downtown Hartford. Even more significant were the horse-drawn trolley lines and later electric trolleys that in 1889 began to weave their way from the inner city of Hartford to the countryside of West Hartford. Trolley lines opened up a land that had been inaccessible to many, and made it possible for professionals and their families to settle along Prospect Avenue, then north of Farmington Avenue.
 
By the 1880s, Hartford began to experience an economic boom. As such Hartford's business leaders began building their mansions along [[Prospect Avenue Historic District|Prospect Avenue]]. Prospect Hill, situated on a {{convert|1|mi||spell=in|adj=mid|-long}} ridge boasting impressive views of the burgeoning city, became the area's most prestigious address. Homes are characteristic of the architectural styles popular in that period are represented, particularly [[Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals architecture|Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals]]. Many homes in the area on the National Register of Historic Places, including the [[Connecticut Governor's Residence]], built in 1908. Prospect Avenue is adjacent to [[Elizabeth Park, Hartford|Elizabeth Park]], designed by acclaimed landscape architect [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] in 1896 and named for the wife of Charles M. Pond, who bequeathed the land to the City of [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]]. In 1900, the Hartford Golf Club opened its links on the other side of Asylum Avenue just west of Prospect Avenue, adding to the area's ideal suburban sensibility.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Felch Farrand |first1=William |last2=Atwell |first2=George C. |last3=Arms |first3=H. Phelps |last4=Trevelyan Miller |first4=Frances |date=1895 |title=The Connecticut Magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=thY9AQAAIAAJ&q=prospect+hill+west+hartford&pg=PA132 |journal=The Connecticut Quarterly Company |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=132–135 |access-date=5 April 5, 2015}}</ref>
 
In 1895, Wood, Harmon and Company created one of the town's first subdivisions on property known as Stanley Farm, a tract sloping upward from the trolley line that then ran along Farmington Avenue, across from Reservoir No. 1. Called Buena Vista, it was promoted it "Hartford's New and Handsome Suburb." Their literature highlighted "splendid suburban electric car service" and proximity to Reservoir No. 1.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://articles.courant.com/1995-10-21/news/9510210504_1_real-estate-lots-buyers |title=West Hartford Subdivision Reaches Milestone |last=Jacobs |first=Gerald |date=October 21 Oct, 1995 |access-date=5 April 5, 2015 |publisher=The Hartford Courant}}</ref>
 
[[File:West Hill Historic District in West Hartford 2.jpg|thumb|West Hill Historic District in West Hartford 2]]
 
Other developments followed including "Elmhurst" in [[Elmwood, West Hartford|Elmwood]] (1901), and Sunset Farm (1917). One of the most exclusive of these early developments was [[West Hill Historic District (West Hartford, Connecticut)|West Hill]]. Located on the former estate of [[Cornelius Vanderbilt]], son of the famous financier and transportation magnet, it was the brainchild of Horace R. Grant. Designed by some of Hartford's best architects in the 1920s, West Hill is significant historically because it is an excellent example of a planned real estate development of the early 1920s that proceeded under specific design restrictions to achieve outstanding success as a well-crafted and prestigious neighborhood. The architecture is characteristic of the [[Colonial Revival]] and [[Tudor Revival]] styles popular in the period. It was declared a National Historic District in 1996.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://articles.courant.com/2008-03-12/news/0803110681_1_hartford-area-fortune-s-children-mansion |title=A Place Grand Enough For The Vanderbilts To Call Home |last=Clark |first=Marlene |date=March 12 Mar, 2008 |access-date=5 April 5, 2015 |publisher=The Hartford Courant}}</ref>
 
===The automobile===
 
[[File:Old Noah Webster Memorial Library building, August 14, 2008.jpg|thumb|Old Noah Webster Memorial Library building]]
[[File:Gas and Service Station, 898 Farmington Ave, West Hartford, CT.jpg|thumb|Service station on Farmington Avenue, operated by the same family from the early 1960s through 2021<ref>{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=Ronni |title=West Hartford Business Buzz: June 28, 2021 |url=https://we-ha.com/west-hartford-business-buzz-june-28-2021/ |access-date=10 September 10, 2021 |work=we-ha.com |date=June 28, 2021}}</ref>]]
By the 1920s and 1930s the impact of the automobile was felt in West Hartford as the town became more accessible to Hartford's middle and working class citizens. Between 1910 and 1930 the population of West Hartford grew from 4,808 to 24,941 residents. Then with the end of the Great Depression, World War II, and the exodus from urban centers, West Hartford witnessed a tremendous influx of people as its population swelled from 33,776 in 1940 to 62,382 people by 1960. This era ushered in major housing developments and retail spaces throughout the community.
 
In the 1950s, the primary avenues—Albany, Asylum and Farmington—became important arteries for commuters, and the access made West Hartford attractive to middle-class families. During the decade, the town built one new elementary school each year to accommodate the growing population. In the 1960s, construction began on [[Interstate 84 in Connecticut|Interstate 84]], completed in 1969. The interstate had many ramifications on the community, the most visible was that it bisected the town, isolating the more industrial and ethnically diverse neighborhood of Elmwood with a physical barrier from the rest of West Hartford.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/realestate/04wczo.html |title=A Revival in a Run-Down Part of Town |last=Prevost |first=Lisa |date=4 May 4, 2008 |access-date=5 April 5, 2015 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Furthermore, The interstate allowed for increased accessibility as the population increased with the Baby Boom and development, and recalibrated the traditional retail sites.
 
Subsequent residential development continued on through the late 1970s, particularly in the town's northern, western and far southwestern fringes, as evidenced by the many large colonial, ranch, and split level-style homes in these areas. In 1971, the [[Bishops Corner, West Hartford|Bishops Corner]] development was inaugurated. Housing tenants such as Lord & Taylor, F.W. Woolworth, and Doubleday Book Shop drew shoppers from across the region; the Center with its largely independently owned stores, were negatively impacted by the new retail traffic patterns.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.westhartfordnews.com/articles/2011/03/25/news/doc4d8c3765233bc681432156.txt?viewmode=fullstory |title=The story behind Bishops Corner |last=Adam |first=Stuhlman |date=25 March 25, 2011 |access-date=5 April 5, 2015 |publisher=West Hartford News}}</ref>
 
Towards the town's southwest fringe lies [[Westfarms Mall]]. Opened in 1974 with original anchors [[JC Penney]], [[G. Fox & Co.]], and [[Sage-Allen]], the mall further recalibrated retail in West Hartford. It became well known for its lavish ceilings and waterfall-style fountain. Sitting astride I-84, conveniently connected to the town's main internal arteries, and comprising more than {{convert|1,300,000|sqft}} of stores and restaurants, it is the third largest indoor mall in Connecticut.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.easternct.edu/~pocock/MallsConn.htm |title=Largest Connecticut Shopping Malls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927081833/http://www.easternct.edu/~pocock/MallsConn.htm |archive-date=2011-09-September 27, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=2011-09-September 16, 2011}}</ref>
 
===Zoning and segregation===
In 1924, West Hartford became the first municipality in Connecticut to enact zoning, setting a precedent for other municipalities.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Dougherty |first=Jack |url=https://ontheline.trincoll.edu/excluding.html |title=Chapter 3 Excluding Through Zoning Lines {{!}} On The Line: How Schooling, Housing, and Civil Rights Shaped Hartford and its Suburbs |publisher=Amherst College Press |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Putterman |first=Alex |last2=Courant |first2=Hartford |date=2021-02-February 19, 2021 |title=West Hartford is mostly white, while Bloomfield is largely Black; how that came to be tells the story of racism and segregation in American suburbs |url=https://www.courant.com/2021/02/19/west-hartford-is-mostly-white-while-bloomfield-is-largely-black-how-that-came-to-be-tells-the-story-of-racism-and-segregation-in-american-suburbs/ |website=Hartford Courant |language=en-US}}</ref> The zoning legislation economically segregated residential areas by keeping expensive single-family homes away from multi-family housing, and preventing multi-family housing in single-family neighborhoods. West Hartford justified the zoning as intended to raise property values and keep undesirable groups out of the locality.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Normen |first=Elizabeth |date=September 6, 2019-09-06 |title=How Segregation Happened in West Hartford |url=https://www.ctexplored.org/how-segregation-happened-in-west-hartford/ |website=Connecticut Explored |language=en-US}}</ref> The impetus for the zoning change was the failure of West Hartford leaders to prevent a Jewish grocery from setting up a grocery store in a West Hartford residential area a few years prior.<ref name=":0" />
 
Alongside zoning, neighborhoods in West Hartford used racial covenants that prevented non-whites from owning or occupying buildings (until they were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1948).<ref name=":1" /> In the 1960s and 1970s, real estate agents engaged in racial steering to keep black people out of West Hartford.<ref name=":1" /> These policies have contributed to making West Hartford overwhelmingly white.<ref name=":1" />
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=== Blue Back Square ===
[[File:Outside the library at Blue Back Square in West Hartford, Connecticut, August 10, 2008.jpg|thumb|Outside the library at Blue Back Square in West Hartford, Connecticut]]
Opening in 2007, [[Blue Back Square]] is a pioneer mixed-use development in the Center that blends retail and residential living space on a large scale. The five-building complex contains {{convert|220,000|sqft}} of ground floor retail space and 120 luxury space. Medical office space encompasses {{convert|137,000|sqft}}, and other professional offices total another {{convert|62,500|sqft}} square feet. A six-screen movie theatre as well as two 500-space parking garages were also built.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/realestate/commercial/20conn.html |title=A Suburb's Big Project Is Outpacing Hartford's |last=Gordon |first=Jane |date=December 20 Dec, 2006 |access-date=5 April 5, 2015 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Named after [[Noah Webster]]'s popular spelling book, Blue-Back Speller, the development has significantly altered the Center and furthered West Hartford's status as a regional dining and shopping destination.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20110919/PRINTEDITION/309199992/blue-backs-success-secret--an-old-style-village-repackaged-as-new-urbanism |title=Blue Back's success secret &#124; An old-style village repackaged as 'new urbanism' |last=Seay |first=Gregory |date=1 June 1, 2012 |access-date=5 April 5, 2015 |publisher=Hartford Business Journal}}</ref>
 
==Geography==
[[File:West Hartford White Oak Tree October 2023.jpg|Connecticut co-champion white oak tree, located at the former UConn campus in West Hartford<ref>{{cite web |title=Champion Trees by Common Name |url=http://oak.conncoll.edu:8080/notabletrees/ChampsByCommonName.jsp |website=Connecticut's Notable Trees |access-date=8 September 8, 2023}}</ref>|thumb|300px|right]]
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|57.7|sqkm|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|56.6|sqkm|order=flip}} is land and {{convert|1.1|sqkm|order=flip}}, or 1.91%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010">{{Cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/0600000US0900382590 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212154801/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/0600000US0900382590 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-02-February 12, 2020 |title=2010 Demographic Profile Data: West Hartford town, Hartford County, Connecticut |date=December 2010 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder |access-date=November 28, 2012}}</ref>
 
The west side of West Hartford is flanked by the [[Metacomet Ridge]], a mountainous [[trap rock]] ridgeline that stretches from [[Long Island Sound]] to nearly the [[Vermont]] border. Notable features of the Metacomet Ridge in West Hartford include [[Talcott Mountain]] and a number of highland water reservoirs belonging to the Metropolitan District, which maintains watershed and recreation resources on the property. The {{convert|51|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} [[Metacomet Trail]] traverses the ridge. The town's web site indicates that the highest point in town is {{convert|778|ft}} above sea level on Talcott (Avon) Mountain. The altitude at Town Hall is {{convert|120|ft}}.
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|1850=4411}}{{See also|List of Connecticut locations by per capita income}}
 
As of the [[2010 United States Census|2010 Census]],<ref name="GR2">{{Cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |title=U.S. Census website |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=2008-01-January 31, 2008}}</ref> there were 63,268 people, 25,258 households, and 16,139 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|2,888.9|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 25,332 housing units at an average density of 1,152.3/square&nbsp;mile (445.0/km{{sup|2}}). The racial makeup of the town was 79.6% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 6.3% [[African American]], 0.2% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 7.4% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.03% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 3.8% from [[Race (U.S. Census)|other races]], and 2.7% from two or more races. [[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census|Hispanic]] or [[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census|Latino]] of any race were 9.8% of the population.
 
Only 49.85% of West Hartford residents reported a religious affiliation. Of these, 31.74% were Roman Catholic, 3.29% Presbyterian, 2.19% Baptist, 2.19% Methodist, 1.59% Jewish, 1.39% Lutheran, 1.31% Episcopalian, 1.19% Pentecostal, 0.4% Mormon, 3.38% of another Christian denomination, and 0.34% were Muslim.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bestplaces.net/religion/city/connecticut/west_hartford |title=West Hartford, Connecticut Religion |website=www.bestplaces.net |access-date=2017-01-January 22, 2017}}</ref>
 
There were 25,258 households, out of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.1% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.06.
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In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.3% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 28.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.2 males.
 
In 2018, the median household income was $99,280 and the [[per capita income]] for the town was $54,601.<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: West Hartford CDP, Connecticut|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/westhartfordcdpconnecticut|access-date=July 8, 2020-07-08|website=www.census.gov|language=en}}</ref> About 3.7% of families and 6.1% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 5.3% of those under the age of 18 and 9.6% ages 65 or older.
 
==Economy==
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==Government==
 
West Hartford has had [[council–manager government]] since 1919. It was the first town in the state and one of the first in the country to adopt this form of government, where the council acts as the elected policy board and the town manager serves as the chief executive officer responsible for carrying policies out. In 1921, voters switched to elections by the [[single transferable vote]], using it for two elections, before the [[Connecticut General Assembly|General Assembly]] overturned it in 1923.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Santucci |first=Jack |date=2016-11-November 10, 2016 |title=Party Splits, Not Progressives |journal=American Politics Research |language=en |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=494–526 |doi=10.1177/1532673x16674774 |s2cid=157400899 |issn=1532-673X}}</ref> Town Council members are elected at large for two years and represent all of West Hartford, and the town clerk is elected for four years. Appointed by the Town Council in 2022, Rick Ledwith is the Town Manager.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.westhartfordct.gov/government-services/town-council|title=West Hartford Town Council|publisher=Town of West Hartford|access-date=July 23, 2020}}</ref>
 
Connecticut municipalities—as with neighboring [[Massachusetts]] and [[Rhode Island]]—provide nearly all local services (i.e. fire and rescue, education, snow removal, etc.), as county government has been abolished since 1960.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/08/14/archives/connecticut-ends-county-rule-oct-1-state-to-take-over-historic.html |title=Connecticut Ends County Rule Oct. 1; State to Take Over Historic Government Units – Minor Court System Also to Go |date=1960-08-August 14, 1960 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2010-05-May 20, 2010}}</ref>
 
==Infrastructure==
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====Bus rapid transit====
{{further|CT Fastrak}}
CTfastrak, Connecticut's first [[bus rapid transit]] corridor, opened in 2015, providing a separated right-of-way between Hartford and [[New Britain, Connecticut|New Britain]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://articles.courant.com/2013-03-14/community/hc-west-hartford-busway-0315-20130314_1_ctfastrak-million-busway-michael-mendick |title=Busway Construction Will Impact Traffic On Flatbush Avenue |last=Staggs |first=Julie |date=March 14 Mar, 2013 |access-date=5 April 5, 2015 |publisher=The Hartford Courant}}</ref> West Hartford is served by two stations:
* {{stl|CT Transit|Elmwood}}: Corner of New Park Avenue and New Britain Avenue
* {{stl|CT Transit|Flatbush Avenue}}: Corner of Flatbush Avenue and New Park Avenue
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==== Rivalry ====
As of 2020, both of West Hartford's public high schools, Hall and Conard were ranked in the top 15 in the state and top 5% nationally according to ''U.S. News''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-04-April 21, 2020|title=West Hartford's Hall and Conard Ranked Among Top in State and Country by U.S. News |url=https://we-ha.com/west-hartfords-hall-and-conard-ranked-among-top-in-state-and-country-by-u-s-news-2/ |access-date=2021-11-November 12, 2021 |website=We-Ha {{!}} West Hartford News |language=en-US}}</ref> The schools have been neck and neck in competing in educational aspects, but especially in sports. Hall versus Conard sports rivalry has gone on since the beginning of 1957, when their first football game against each other was held.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-11-November 13, 2015 |title=Hall vs. Conard 'All in the Family' Football Documentary Returns|url=https://we-ha.com/hall-vs-conard-all-in-the-family-football-documentary-returns/ |website=We-Ha {{!}} West Hartford News|access-date=2021-11-November 13, 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref> The competition and school spirit is just as alive today, if not, more extreme than it was over 60 years ago. On February 23, 2015, the rivalry went too far when a fight occurred between both teams at the varsity basketball game held at Hall High School. The score of the game was 43–42 and teammates began fighting after a minor issue happened with the buzzer beater.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carlson |first=Suzanne |date=February 24, 2015 |title=West Hartford Superintendent Says Students Will Be Disciplined After Conard-Hall Fight |url=https://www.courant.com/community/west-hartford/hc-west-hartford-conard-hall-boys-basketball-fight-0225-20150224-story.html |website=Hartford Courant}}</ref> As the entire Hall team stormed the court to celebrate, students began throwing punches at each other and eventually the entire team and coaches were stuck in the middle of a brawl. The fight was recorded entirely for the town to see online and identify which students were at fault, which led to 10 students being arrested.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-02-February 27, 2015 |title=Arrests imminent in Conard, Hall High basketball brawl |url=https://www.wtnh.com/news/arrests-imminent-in-conard-hall-high-basketball-brawl/|access-date=2021-11-November 13, 2021 |publisher=WTNH.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The Hall-Conard fan section was packed per usual and bleachers were filled to capacity as seen in multiple video recordings.
 
===Private schools===
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* [[Saint Joseph College (Connecticut)|University of Saint Joseph]]
 
The [[University of Connecticut#Campuses|University of Connecticut Greater Hartford Campus]] was formerly located in West Hartford adjacent to the University of Saint Joseph campus, however it was moved to downtown Hartford in 2017.<ref>{{cite news |title=New UConn Campus in Hartford is City's Biggest Economic Boost in Decade |url=http://www.courant.com/real-estate/property-line/hc-biz-uconn-downtown-hartford-campus-opens-20170801-story.html |last1=Gosselin |first1=Kenneth R. |author2=Jenna Carlesso |author3=Kathleen Megan |work=Hartford Courant |access-date=September 8, 2017-09-08 |language=en-US}}</ref>
 
==Military==
{{further|76th Infantry Division (United States)}}
The 76th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War I, World War II and the Cold War. The 76th Division was reconstituted in October 1946 and reactivated in November of that year as a part of the Organized Reserve, and was headquartered in West Hartford, Connecticut. Units of the division were spread throughout the six New England states. The 405th Army Hospital Unit took over the South Quaker lane facility in 1996.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1996-09-09-9609090161-story.html|title=IT'S TAPS FOR 76TH DIVISION|date=9 September 9, 1996 |publisher=Hartford Courant|access-date=July 3, 2021}}</ref>
 
==Media==
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Hartford,_Connecticut"