Why The Mark Twain House In Hartford Is A Must-See

MSN recently released their list of 'The Must-See Spots in Every State Capital Across America' and they nailed it for Connecticut. MSN says the Mark Twain House in Hartford is our must-see destination—and it’s hard to argue with that pick.

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The Gothic mansion isn’t just a stunning piece of architecture; it’s where Twain lived, worked, and created some of his most famous novels. The house is full of history and stories.

Here are some fun facts about the house and the man:

Before moving to Redding, Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens) lived in Hartford for 17 years. This is where he wrote classics like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
In 1873, Twain and his wife Olivia hired New York architect Edward Tuckerman Potter to design their mansion on Farmington Avenue. Construction began while the couple was overseas, but delays and ballooning costs nearly drove Twain crazy.
The finished product was a three-story Gothic Revival mansion with 25 rooms spread across 11,500 square feet. When it was completed in 1874, it had all the latest modern conveniences.
The house cost between $40,000 and $45,000 to build—a fortune in the 1870s. Because of that, the family kept the interior décor relatively simple at first.
Twain later said his years in Hartford were the happiest and most productive of his life.
But financial struggles forced the Clemens family to move to Europe in 1891. After the death of their daughter Susy in 1896, Twain’s wife Olivia found it too painful to return. The house was eventually sold in 1903.
Today, the Mark Twain House is open to the public as a museum, where visitors can step into the library, grand hall, and even Twain’s billiards room.

Rich Is Better! Connecticut's 50 Wealthiest Neighborhoods 2024

You might have heard the saying, "I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better." While I've only experienced one side of that equation and it's not the more favorable, I still find the wealth in Connecticut intriguing. If you share my curiosity, you'll be interested to explore the 50 wealthiest neighborhoods in Connecticut. This isn't a general list of towns but a curated selection of the top 50 richest neighborhoods in the Nutmeg State, as identified by Forbes.

Note: This list covers neighborhoods ranked from 10 to 1, plus a few additional ones in the Greater-Danbury area. You can find the full list from 50 to 1 at the bottom of this article.

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

Real-Life Vampire Scare Shook Connecticut In The 1800s

In 1854, panic swept through Jewett City when members of the Ray family began dying from a wasting disease known as “consumption.” But some locals believed it was something more sinister. The fear of vampires led to a series of disturbing rituals — and possibly even prevented more deaths. Here’s how one Connecticut town became a hotspot for vampire lore.

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano