As we look backward at the Mark Twain House’s history, we are also looking outward. Hartford was the Clemenses’ city, so for this exhibit we have used the whole city as our second “gallery space.”

We invite you to explore downtown Hartford and Bushnell Park through the lens of Samuel Clemens’ career. We have specifically chosen these twelve locations as they relate to Samuel Clemens’ ground-breaking work as a career creative through the persona of Mark Twain and/or the cost of keeping up with a celebrity persona while financially struggling. We hope that you see Hartford in a new way, revealing layers of history where they might not always be apparent. The city was vibrant and wealthy when the Clemenses family lived here; today its vibrancy comes from the exciting range of cultures and nationalities who are at home here, and a growing arts and culture scene.

These twelve historical markers are also strategically placed around the City of Hartford’s Urban Forest. The Forestry Division maintains and improves the urban forest through “out of the box” approaches that will foster ownership by Hartford residents as well as maximize the resources for our green infrastructure. The common name and species of each of the urban forest trees that host our signs are identified.

It Happened In Hartford: 150 Years of the Mark Twain House is proudly sponsored by The Hartford and supported by the Bushnell Conservancy and the City of Hartford Forestry Department.