25 Historic New Haven Places To Visit, Part Of City's 241st Birthday

NEW HAVEN, CT — Tuesday, Mayor Justin Elicker, City Historian Michael Morand, and New Haven Museum Executive Director Margaret Anne Tockarshewsky gathered to commemorate New Haven’s 241st birthday as an incorporated city with a visit to the New Haven Museum.

To celebrate the Elm City, the “25 in ’25: 25+ Historic Places to Visit in New Haven in 2025” list was released and available on the city’s website at newhavenct.gov/history.

On display at the museum will be the 1784 city charter, the 1784 city seal, a historic map, and other notable city artifacts and items.

Following the establishment of the nation in 1776 and the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War, the City of New Haven was incorporated 241 years ago when the State of Connecticut approved its Charter on January 21, 1784. New Haven is the first city incorporated in the state, along with New London, and thus also became one of the earliest cities incorporated anywhere in the newly independent United States. The State action was taken by the General Court (now the General Assembly) meeting in New Haven, at the time a co-capital of Connecticut with Hartford.

The Quinnipiac people were the first people to inhabit the region, as far back as 8,000 or more years ago. A group of English colonial settlers arrived on April 24, 1638, for the permanent settlement of a colony that would soon be named New Haven.