New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. About southwest of Hartford, the city is part of the Capitol Planning Region. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the city is 74,135.

Among the southernmost of the communities encompassed within the Hartford-Springfield Knowledge Corridor metropolitan region, New Britain is home to Central Connecticut State University and Charter Oak State College. The city was noted for its industry during the 19th and early 20th centuries, and sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places include Walnut Hill Park, developed by the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and Downtown New Britain.

The city's official nickname is the "Hardware City" because of its history as a manufacturing center and as the headquarters of Stanley Black & Decker. Because of its large Polish population, the city is often playfully referred to as "New Britski".

History

17th-18th century New Britain was settled in 1687. It was incorporated as a new parish as the New Britain Society in 1754.

19th century Chartered in 1850 as a township and in 1871 as a city, New Britain had separated from the nearby towns of Farmington and Berlin, Connecticut. A consolidation charter was adopted in 1905. New Britain Normal School trained teachers. It relocated in 1922 to its current location on Stanley Street. It became Teachers College of Connecticut in 1933. It was renamed again in 1959 as Central Connecticut State College and in 1983 became Central Connecticut State University.

Major manufacturers, such as The Stanley Works, the P&F Corbin Company (founded 1848, later Corbin Locks), Landers, Frary & Clark (LF&C) founded 1842, Union Manufacturing Company, founded in 1866 and North & Judd, were headquartered in the city. During the early part of the 20th century, New Britain was known as the "Hardware Capital of the World", as well as "Hardware City".

In 1843 Frederick Trent Stanley established Stanley's Bolt Manufactory in New Britain to make door bolts and other wrought-iron hardware. In 1857 his cousin Henry Stanley founded The Stanley Rule and Level Company in the city. Planes invented by Leonard Bailey and manufactured by the Stanley Rule and Level Company, known as "Stanley/Bailey" planes, were prized by woodworkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and remain popular among wood craftsmen today. The two companies merged in 1920, and the Stanley Rule and Level Company became the Hand Tools Division of Stanley Works.

The wire coat hanger was invented in 1869 by O. A. North of New Britain. In 1895, the basketball technique of dribbling was developed at the New Britain YMCA.

20th century

In 1900, a monument to veterans of the American Civil War was dedicated.

In 1938, New Britain High School competed in the high school football national championship game in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The year 1954 saw the development of racquetball, also at the YMCA.

The heads of the fire and police departments and seven other municipal employees were arrested as part of a corruption scandal in the 1970s.

Union Manufacturing produced stainless steel thermos flasks, amongst other things, registering the trademark for Uno-Vac in 1967; it closed its factory doors in 1986.

In 2024, Governor Ned Lamont proclaimed New Britain the "Hot Dog Capital of Connecticut," owing to the city's numerous prominent hot dog-related businesses.

City motto

New Britain's motto, —translated from Latin—means "Industry fills the hive and enjoys the honey." This phrase was coined by Elihu Burritt, a 19th-century New Britain resident, diplomat, philanthropist and social activist.

In 2007 it was reported that the Latin word for "honey" in the motto had been a typo for decades; it should be , but it had long been misspelled as mele. Former mayor William McNamara, who unsuccessfully tried to fix it during his term, suggested "to either fix the spelling immediately" or "switch to the English version of the motto." As controversy arose from the matter, the word was superseded with the correct spelling, .

Geography and topography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.4 square miles (34.7 km), of which 13.3 square miles (34.6 km) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 km) (0.52%) is water.

New Britain's terrain is mostly made up of gentle, rolling hills and young Connecticut forest. The many parks are populated with trees, and in small, undeveloped areas, there are also brushy woods. New Britain's streets also have many trees lining the sides of the roads. Many front yards in the northern half of the city have at least one tree. One or two streams flow through New Britain, undisturbed by the development.

Demographics Racial and ethnic composition {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+New Britain city, Connecticut – racial and ethnic composition !Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) ! !2010 !2000 !1990 !1980 |- |White alone (NH) |style='background: #ffffe6; |37.1%(27,535) |47.7%(34,919) |58.8%(42,083) |74.7%(56,405) |84.9%(62,686) |- |Black alone (NH) |style='background: #ffffe6; |12.5%(9,294) |10.9%(7,982) |9.7%(6,965) |7%(5,257) |5.5%(4,034) |- |American Indian alone (NH) |style='background: #ffffe6; |0.1%(74) |0.1%(99) |0.1%(106) |0.2%(118) |0.1%(105) |- |Asian alone (NH) |style='background: #ffffe6; |2.5%(1,884) |2.3%(1,672) |2.3%(1,636) | |1.7%(1,294) | |0.3%(198) |- |Pacific Islander alone (NH) |style='background: #ffffe6; |0%(27) |0%(16) |0%(17) |- |Other race alone (NH) |style='background: #ffffe6; |0.6%(478) |0.2%(166) |0.2%(122) |0.2%(133) |0.2%(152) |- |Multiracial (NH) |style='background: #ffffe6; |3%(2,223) |1.9%(1,418) |2.1%(1,471) |— |— |- |Hispanic/Latino (any race) |style='background: #ffffe6; |44%(32,620) |36.8%(26,934) |26.8%(19,138) |16.3%(12,284) |9%(6,665)

Ancestry Largest ancestries (2010) Percent Puerto-Rican 29.9% Polish 17.1% Italian 9.6% Irish 8% German 4.1% English 3.9% French-Canadian 3.8% Haitian 3.1%

2020 census As of the 2020 census, New Britain had a population of 74,135. The median age was 34.6 years. 22.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 13.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.9 males age 18 and over.

99.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.1% lived in rural areas.

There were 29,054 households in New Britain, of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 29.3% were married-couple households, 24.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 36.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 31,510 housing units, of which 7.8% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.0%.

+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 34,116 46.0% Black or African American 11,004 14.8% American Indian and Alaska Native 399 0.5% Asian 1,954 2.6% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 47 0.1% Some other race 15,545 21.0% Two or more races 11,070 14.9% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 32,620 44.0%

2010 census There were 28,261 households, out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.4% were married couples living together, 25.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.7% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.6% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 88 males.

Income and poverty In 2021, the median income for a household in the city was $51,586, and for a family, was $67,482. The per capita income for the city was $26,152. 19.9% of the population was below the poverty line. The poverty rate was 15.4% for White Non-Hispanic residents, and 25.7% for Hispanic or Latino residents.

Polish community New Britain has the largest Polish population of any city in Connecticut, and by 1930 a quarter of the city was ethnically Polish. Also referred to as "Little Poland", the city's Broad Street neighborhood has been home to a considerable number of Polish businesses and families since 1890. On September 23, 2008, through the urging of the Polonia Business Association, the New Britain City Council unanimously passed a resolution officially designating New Britain's Broad Street area as "Little Poland". In recent years, the Polish community has been credited with revitalizing the area both culturally and economically. Media is served by three Polish language newspapers and a television station, and many businesses and civil agencies are bilingual. The post office branch in Little Poland is the only one in the nation with the word "post" written in Polish to welcome visitors. Each year, a Little Poland festival is held on a Sunday in the spring.

Notable visitors to the Polish district have included Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan on July 8, 1987. In 1969, as then-Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, the future Pope John Paul II gave a mass at Sacred Heart Church. A statue was erected in his honor in 2007. Dubbed the city's "Polish heart" by The Boston Globe, Little Poland caught the attention of Polish Ambassador to the US Ryszard Schnepf, who toured the area with US Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, US Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, as well as several members of the Polish Sejm. An honorary Polish consulate was established in March 2017. The first of its kind in Connecticut, it was established by Polish diplomat to the United States Piotr Wilczek.

In September 2019, Polish President Andrzej Duda became the first head of state to visit New Britain when he addressed thousands in Walnut Hill Park prior to traveling to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. Duda was joined by a variety of Connecticut politicians, including Governor Ned Lamont, U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes and Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal.

Government and politics Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 31, 2023 Party Active voters Inactive voters Total voters Percentage Unaffiliated 12,849 4,668 17,517 44.59% Democratic 13,349 3,249 16,598 42.25% Republican 3,986 651 4,637 11.80% Other Parties 407 122 529 1.35% Total 30,591 8,690 39,281 100%

+ New Britain city vote by party in presidential elections Year Democratic Republican Third parties202460.8% 13,48337.4% 8.2822.71% 560202066.06% 16,03132.09% 7,7241.31% 315201669.28% 15,46827.12% 6,0553.61% 805201276.32% 16,05222.74% 4,7830.94% 197200874.54% 16,74224.23% 5,4421.23% 276200467.01% 14,12231.13% 6,5601.86% 392200069.48% 13,91325.26% 5,0595.26% 1,054199666.44% 14,32222.78% 4,91110.77% 2,322199253.80% 14,15926.75% 7,04019.45% 5,118198861.63% 15,84337.22% 9,5691.15% 295198451.24% 14,60848.14% 13,7230.62% 177198053.21% 15,64934.99% 10,29211.80% 3,470197660.32% 18,73738.96% 12,1010.72% 223197252.31% 18,14346.52% 16,1341.17% 405196865.71% 21,89028.97% 9,6515.32% 1,772196480.47% 29,97619.53% 7,2730.00% 0196068.84% 27,29331.16% 12,3520.00% 0195646.86% 18,12553.14% 20,5510.00% 0

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