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Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company

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Sharps rifles are a series of large-bore, single-shot , falling-block , breech-loading rifles , beginning with a design by Christian Sharps in 1848 and ceasing production in 1881. They were renowned for long-range accuracy. By 1874, the rifle was available in a variety of calibers, and it was one of the few designs to be successfully adapted to metallic cartridge use. The Sharps rifles became icons of the American Old West with their appearances in many Western-genre films and books. Perhaps as a result, several rifle companies offer reproductions of the Sharps rifle.

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80-511: Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company was the manufacturer of the Sharps Rifle . The company was organized by Samuel Robbins and Richard S. Lawrence as a holding company in Hartford, Connecticut , on October 9, 1851 with $ 100,000 in capital. Despite Sharps departing from the company bearing his name, Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company produced over 100,000 rifles, but it dissolved in 1881 with

160-815: A bottleneck or straight-walled case. These cartridges included the .40-1 5 ⁄ 8 Bottleneck ( .40-50 Sharps Bottleneck), .40-1 7 ⁄ 8 Straight ( .40-50 Sharps Straight), .40-2 1 ⁄ 4 Bottleneck (.40-70 Sharps Bottleneck), .40-2 1 ⁄ 2 Straight (.40-70 Sharps Bottleneck), .40-2 5 ⁄ 8 Bottleneck (.40-90 Sharps Bottleneck), .44-1 5 ⁄ 8 (.44-60 Sharps), .44-2 1 ⁄ 4 (.44-77 Sharps or Remington), .44-2 5 ⁄ 8 (.44-90 Sharps), .45-2 1 ⁄ 10 ( .45-70 Government ), .45-2 4 ⁄ 10 (.45-90 Sharps or Winchester), .45-2 6 ⁄ 10 (.45-100 Sharps), .45-2 7 ⁄ 8 (.45-110 Sharps), .50-1 3 ⁄ 4 ( .50-70 Government ), .50-2.00 (No Modern Equivalent), and .50-2 1 ⁄ 2 ( .50-90 Sharps ). In 1990,

240-517: A couple of families and a few dozen soldiers. The fort was abandoned by 1654, but the area is known today as Dutch Point; the name of the Dutch fort "House of Hope" is reflected in the name of Huyshope Avenue. A significant reason for establishment of the Dutch trading post was to better control the flow of wampum , the de facto currency of New Netherland and portions of New England, to and from valuable Native American fur traders. The Dutch outpost and

320-497: A far distance. Firearms manufacturers such as Davide Pedersoli and Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company have credited these movies with an increase in demand for those rifles. As a result of the popularity of the film, a Sharps match is held annually in Forsyth, Montana , known as the "Matthew Quigley Buffalo Rifle Match". Originally, a 44-inch (1.1 m) target was placed at 1,000 yards (910 m) for each shooter, reminiscent of

400-483: A gun employing individually loaded percussion caps. It was used in the Civil War by multiple Union units, most famously by the U.S. Army marksmen known popularly as " Berdan's Sharpshooters " in honor of their leader, Hiram Berdan . The Sharps rifle made a superior sniper weapon of greater accuracy than the more commonly issued muzzle-loading rifled muskets . This was attributed to the higher rate of fire of

480-521: A household in the city was $ 20,820, and the median income for a family was $ 22,051. Males had a median income of $ 28,444 versus $ 26,131 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 13,428. Hartford is a center for medical care, research, and education. Within the city of Hartford itself, hospitals include Hartford Hospital , The Institute of Living , Connecticut Children's Medical Center , and Saint Francis Hospital & Medical Center (which merged in 1990 with Mount Sinai Hospital ). Hartford

560-700: A huge commercial success, and production expanded in the Weed factory, with Weed making every part but the tires. Demand for bicycles overshadowed the failing sewing machine market by 1890, so Pope bought the Weed factory, took over as its president, and renamed it the Pope Manufacturing Company . The bicycle boom was short-lived, peaking near the turn of the century when more and more consumers craved individual automobile travel, and Pope's company suffered financially from over-production amidst falling demand. In an effort to save his business, Pope opened

640-566: A matinee performance of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus on Barbour Street in the city's north end and became known as the Hartford Circus Fire . After World War II , many residents of Puerto Rico moved to Hartford. Starting in the late 1950s, the suburbs ringing Hartford began to grow and flourish and the capital city began a long decline. Insurance giant Connecticut General (now CIGNA ) moved to

720-590: A mission to establish a trading post and fortify the area for the Dutch West India Company . The original site was located on the south bank of the Park River in the present-day Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhood. This fort was called Fort Hoop or the "House of Hope." In 1633, Jacob Van Curler formally bought the land around Fort Hoop from the Pequot chief for a small sum. It was home to perhaps

800-469: A motor carriage department and turned out electric carriages, beginning with the "Mark III" in 1897. His venture might have made Hartford the capital of the automobile industry were it not for the ascendancy of Henry Ford and a series of pitfalls and patent struggles that outlived Pope himself. In 1876, Hartford Machine Screw was granted a charter "for the purpose of manufacturing screws, hardware and machinery of every variety." The basis for its incorporation

880-617: A new factory adjacent to Weed, where it remained until 1948. On the week of April 12, 1909, the Connecticut River reached a record flood stage of 24.5 feet (7.5 meters) above the low-water mark, flooding the city of Hartford and doing great damage. On July 6, 1944, Hartford was the scene of one of the worst fire disasters in the history of the United States. Claiming the lives of 168 persons, mostly children and their mothers, and injuring several hundred more. It occurred at

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960-462: A new technology innovation hub in Hartford, creating up to 1,000 jobs by 2022. The Hartford technology innovation hub will focus on three key sectors- insurance, healthcare and manufacturing. Hartford has continued to attract technology companies including CGI Inc. , Covr Financial Technologies, GalaxE. Solutions, HCL Technologies and Larsen & Toubro . Insurance software provided Insurity

1040-419: A new, modern campus in the suburb of Bloomfield . Constitution Plaza had been hailed as a model of urban renewal, but it gradually became a concrete office park. Once-flourishing department stores shut down, such as Brown Thomson, Sage-Allen , and G. Fox & Co. , as suburban malls grew in popularity, such as Westfarms and Buckland Hills . In 1997, the city lost its professional hockey franchise, with

1120-405: A nineteenth-century palazzo on Asylum Street. Bank of America and People's United Financial have a significant corporate presence in Hartford. In 2009, Northeast Utilities , a Fortune 500 company and New England's largest energy utility, announced it would establish its corporate headquarters downtown. Hartford is a burgeoning technology hub. In March 2018, Infosys announced that opening of

1200-663: A population of 121,054 as of the 2020 census . Hartford is the most populous city in the Capitol Planning Region and the core city of the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Founded in 1635, Hartford is among the oldest cities in the United States. It is home to the country's oldest public art museum ( Wadsworth Atheneum ), the oldest publicly funded park ( Bushnell Park ), the oldest continuously published newspaper (the Hartford Courant ),

1280-637: A scene from the movie. The match is billed as the "biggest rifle event shooting in Eastern Montana since the Custer Massacre " and has since developed into a two-day competition with eight shots for score on six steel silhouette targets at ranges from 350 to 805 yards (320 to 736 m). Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut . The city, located in Hartford County , had

1360-469: A sermon that inspired the writing of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut , which provided a framework for Connecticut's separation for Massachusetts Bay Colony and the formation of a civil government. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were the legal basis for Connecticut Colony until the 1662 royal charter granted to Connecticut by Charles II . The original settlement area contained

1440-405: A shrinking population base and high pension obligations, a $ 65 million budget gap was projected for the year of 2018. The city had cut budget of public services and gotten union concessions however these measures did not balance the budget. A state bailout later that year kept the city from filing for bankruptcy. Downtown Hartford is busy during the day with commuters, but tends to be quiet in

1520-525: Is a falling-block rifle used during and after the American Civil War in multiple variations. Along with being able to use a standard percussion cap , the Sharps has an unusual pellet primer feed. This is a device which holds a stack of pelleted primers and flips one over the nipple each time the trigger is pulled and the hammer falls—making it much easier to fire a Sharps from horseback than

1600-412: Is also the historic international center of the insurance industry, with companies like Aetna , Conning & Company , The Hartford , Harvard Pilgrim Health Care , The Phoenix Companies , and Hartford Steam Boiler based in the city, and companies like Prudential Financial , Lincoln National Corporation , Sun Life Financial Travelers , United Healthcare and Axa XL having major operations in

1680-422: Is approximately 47.05 inches (1,200 mm), which is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. Hartford typically receives about 51.7 inches (131 cm) of snow in an average winter—about 40% more than coastal Connecticut cities like New Haven, Stamford, and New London. Seasonal snowfall has ranged from 115.2 inches (293 cm) during the winter of 1995–96 to 13.5 inches (34 cm) in 1999–2000. During

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1760-562: Is home of the University of Hartford and also houses the largest per capita of residents claiming Jamaican-American heritage in the United States. Other neighborhoods in Hartford include Barry Square, Behind the Rocks, Clay Arsenal, South West, and Upper Albany, which is dotted by many Caribbean restaurants and specialty stores. At the 2010 United States census , there were 124,775 people, 44,986 households, and 27,171 families residing in

1840-404: Is home to Keney Park and a number of the city's oldest and most ornate homes. The South End features "Little Italy" and was the home of Hartford's sizeable Italian community. South Green hosts Hartford Hospital . The South Meadows is the site of Hartford–Brainard Airport and Hartford's industrial community. The North Meadows has retail strips, car dealerships, and Comcast Theatre. Blue Hills

1920-460: Is the chief." Hartford has been the sole capital of Connecticut since 1875. (Before then, New Haven and Hartford alternated as dual capitals, as part of the agreement by which the Colony of New Haven was absorbed into the Colony of Connecticut in 1664.) Hartford was the richest city in the United States for several decades following the American Civil War . Since 2015, it has been one of

2000-676: Is the second-largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the Northeast , behind only Holyoke, Massachusetts , approximately 30 miles (48 km) to the north along the Connecticut River. There are small but recognizable concentrations of people with origins in Mexico, Colombia , Peru , and the Dominican Republic as well. Among the non-Hispanic population, the largest ancestry group is from Jamaica ; in 2014, Hartford

2080-682: The .50-90 Sharps hunting cartridge. Hugo Borchardt designed the last rifle made by the company, the Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 , but the company went bankrupt and was defunct three years later in 1881. The Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company produced over 100,000 firearms during the US Civil War for the Union Army, but the company was plagued by lawsuits and eventually succumbed to a shifting marketplace as repeating rifles became more popular with shooters. The building of

2160-454: The 1938 New England Hurricane , as well as with Hurricane Irene in 2011. The highest officially recorded temperature is 103 °F (39 °C) on July 22, 2011, and the lowest is −26 °F (−32 °C) on January 22, 1961; the record cold daily maximum is −2 °F (−19 °C) on December 2, 1917, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum is 80 °F (27 °C) on July 31, 1917. The central business district, as well as

2240-590: The Hartford Whalers moving to Raleigh, North Carolina—despite an increase in season ticket sales and an offer from the state for a new arena. In 2005, a developer from Newton, Massachusetts tried unsuccessfully to bring an NHL team back to Hartford and house them in a new, publicly funded stadium. Hartford experienced problems as the population shrank 11 percent during the 1990s. Only Flint, Michigan ; Gary, Indiana ; St. Louis, Missouri ; and Baltimore , Maryland experienced larger population losses during

2320-1010: The Podunks , mostly east of the Connecticut River; the Poquonocks north and west of Hartford; the Massacoes in the Simsbury area; the Tunxis tribe in West Hartford and Farmington ; the Wangunks to the south; and the Saukiog in Hartford itself. The first Europeans known to have explored the area were the Dutch under Adriaen Block , who sailed up the Connecticut in 1614. Dutch fur traders from New Amsterdam returned in 1623 with

2400-605: The Western film Quigley Down Under , Tom Selleck 's title character uses a Sharps rifle chambered in the .45-110, also known as the 45-2 7 ⁄ 8 " Sharps. Theater Crafts Industry went so far as to say, "In Quigley Down Under , which we did in 1990, the Sharps rifle practically co-stars with Tom Selleck." This statement was echoed by gunwriters including John Taffin in Guns and Lionel Atwill in Field & Stream , crediting

2480-446: The breech loading mechanism and superior quality of manufacture, as well as the ease with which it could be reloaded from a kneeling or prone position. At this time however, many officers were distrustful of breech-loading weapons on the grounds that they would encourage men to waste ammunition. In addition, the Sharps rifle was expensive to manufacture (three times the cost of a muzzle-loading Springfield rifle ) and so only 11,000 of

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2560-459: The Dutch fort. The settlement was originally called Newtown, but it was changed to Hartford in 1637 in honor of Stone's hometown of Hertford , England. Hooker also created the nearby town of Windsor in 1633. The etymology of Hartford is the ford where harts cross, or "deer crossing." As the Puritan minister in Hartford, Thomas Hooker wielded a great deal of power; in 1638, he delivered

2640-642: The Italian gunmaker Davide Pedersoli & Co. of Brescia, offer a line of Sharps reproductions. The Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company had manufactured bicycles under contract for Weed Sewing Machine Company in Hartford. When Sharps relocated to Bridgeport, the Weed Sewing Machine Company bought the old Hartford plant to manufacture bicycles themselves. 7.Marcot, Roy - Marron, Edward - Paxton, Ron. "Sharps Firearms: The Percussion Era 1848 - 1865" Sharps Rifle Sharps' initial rifle

2720-512: The Model 1859s were produced. Most were unissued or given to sharpshooters, but the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves (which still carried the old-fashioned designation of a "rifle regiment") carried them until being mustered out in 1864. The carbine version was very popular with the cavalry of both the Union and Confederate armies and was issued in much larger numbers than other carbines of the war and

2800-615: The Sharps Rifle Co. before its closing in 1881. Reproductions of the paper cartridge Sharps Model 1859 and Model 1863 rifle and carbine, the metallic-cartridge Model 1874 Sharps rifle, and Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 have been manufactured for use in Civil War re-enacting , hunting , and target shooting . The military Sharps rifle was produced by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company and

2880-555: The State Capitol, Old State House and a number of museums and shops are located Downtown. Parkville, home to Real Art Ways , is named for the confluence of the north and the south branches of the Park River. Frog Hollow, in close proximity to Downtown, is home to Pope Park and Trinity College , which is one of the nation's oldest institutions of higher learning. Asylum Hill, a mixed residential and commercial area, houses

2960-535: The Weed Sewing Machine Company took over its factory. The invention of a new type of sewing machine led to a new application of mass production after the principles of interchangeability were applied to clocks and guns. The Weed Company played a major role in making Hartford one of three machine tool centers in New England and even outranked the Colt Armory in nearby Coltsville in size. Weed eventually became

3040-535: The banks of the Connecticut River. These events are held outdoors and include live music, festivals, dance, arts and crafts. Hartford also has a vibrant theater scene with major Broadway productions at the Bushnell Theater as well as performances at the Hartford Stage and TheaterWorks (City Arts). In July 2017, Hartford considered filing Chapter 9 bankruptcy . After years of contending with

3120-505: The birthplace of both the bicycle and automobile industries in Hartford. Industrialist Albert Pope was inspired by a British-made, high-wheeled bicycle (called a velocipede) that he saw at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition , and he bought patent rights for bicycle production in the United States. He wanted to contract out his first order, however, so he approached George Fairfield of Weed Sewing Machine Company, who produced Pope's first run of bicycles in 1878. Bicycles proved to be

3200-407: The boundary between Hartford and East Hartford, and is located on the east side of the city. The Park River originally divided Hartford into northern and southern sections and was a major part of Bushnell Park , but the river was nearly completely enclosed and buried by flood control projects in the 1940s. The former course of the river can still be seen in some of the roadways that were built in

3280-607: The city holds high sufficiency as a global city , as home to the headquarters of many insurance companies, the region's major industry. Other prominent industries include the services, education and healthcare industries. Hartford coordinates certain Hartford–Springfield regional development matters through the Knowledge Corridor Economic Partnership. Various tribes lived in or around Hartford, all Algonquian peoples . These included

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3360-478: The city. At the American Community Survey 's 2019 estimates, the population increased to 123,088. The 2020 United States census tabulated a population of 121,054. Hartford's racial and ethnic makeup in 2019 was 36.0% White, 42.7% Black or African American, 23.7% some other race, 3.4% Asian, 1.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.3% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders. 43.4% of

3440-649: The city. Insurance giant Aetna had its headquarters in Hartford before announcing a relocation to New York City in July 2017. However, when CVS acquired Aetna a few months later, they announced Aetna would remain in Hartford for at least four years. The city is also home to the corporate headquarters of CareCentrix, Choice Merchant Solutions, Global Atlantic Financial Group, Hartford Healthcare, Insurity, LAZ Parking, ProPark Mobility, U.S. Fire Arms , and Virtus Investment Partners . In 2008, Sovereign Bank consolidated two bank branches as well as its regional headquarters in

3520-761: The city. This type of event caught on and eventually became a staple of mid-to-late 19th-century campaigning. Hartford was a major manufacturing city from the 19th century until the mid-20th century. During the Industrial Revolution into the mid-20th century, the Connecticut River Valley cities produced many major precision manufacturing innovations. Among these was Hartford's pioneer bicycle and automobile maker Pope . Many factories have been closed or relocated, or have reduced operations, as in nearly all former Northern manufacturing cities. Around 1850, Hartford native Samuel Colt perfected

3600-535: The company expanded into aircraft engine design at its Hartford factory. Just three years after Colt's first factory opened, the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company set up shop in 1852 at a nearby site along the now-buried Park River , located in the present-day neighborhood of Frog Hollow . Their factory heralded the beginning of the area's transformation from marshy farmland into a major industrial zone. The road leading from town to

3680-473: The decade. However, the population has increased since the 2000 Census. In 1987, Carrie Saxon Perry was elected mayor of Hartford, becoming the first female African-American mayor of a major American city. Riverfront Plaza was opened in 1999, connecting the riverfront and the downtown area for the first time since the 1960s. A significant number of cultural events and performances take place every year at Mortensen Plaza (Riverfront Recapture Organization) by

3760-489: The defunct company was occupied in 1883 by Annsville Wire Mills, which moved out from Annsville, New York after a fire, and later by a typewriter company. Reproductions of the paper cartridge Sharps 1863 Rifle, the metallic cartridge 1874 Sharps Rifle, and Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 are manufactured today for use in hunting and target shooting. A number of companies, among them Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company and C. Sharps Arms Co. Inc., both of Big Timber, Montana , and

3840-626: The evenings and weekends. However, more residential and retail development in recent years has begun changing the pattern. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 18.0 square miles (47 km ), of which 17.3 square miles (45 km ) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km ) (3.67%) is water. The city of Hartford is bordered by the towns of West Hartford , Newington , Wethersfield , East Hartford , Bloomfield , South Windsor , Glastonbury , and Windsor . The Connecticut River forms

3920-425: The factory was called Rifle Lane; the name was later changed to College Street and then Capitol Avenue. A century earlier, mills had located along the Park River because of the water power, but by the 1850s water power was approaching obsolescence. Sharps located there specifically to take advantage of the railroad line that had been constructed alongside the river in 1838. The Sharps Rifle Company failed in 1870, and

4000-411: The famed abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher . The Model 1874 Sharps (this model had been in production since 1871) was a particularly popular rifle that led to the introduction of several derivatives in quick succession. It handled a large number of .40 to .50 caliber cartridges in a variety of loadings and barrel lengths. Hugo Borchardt designed the Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 , the last rifle made by

4080-472: The film with an impact to rival that of Dirty Harry on the Smith & Wesson Model 29 chambered in .44 Remington Magnum . Burt Lancaster's character Valdez in the movie Valdez Is Coming (1971) uses a Sharps rifle with deadly results at almost 1,000 yards (910 m). Also, in the western Billy Two Hats (1974), David Huddleston's character Copeland wounds Gregory Peck's character, Archie Deans, at

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4160-675: The five New England states ( Maine was still part of Massachusetts at that time) gathered at the Hartford Convention to discuss New England's possible secession from the United States. During the early 19th century, the Hartford area was a center of abolitionist activity, and the most famous abolitionist family was the Beechers. The Reverend Lyman Beecher was an important Congregational minister known for his anti-slavery sermons. His daughter Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin ; her brother Henry Ward Beecher

4240-675: The headquarters of several insurance companies as well as the historic homes of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe . The West End, home to the Governor's residence, Elizabeth Park , and the University of Connecticut School of Law , abuts the Hartford Golf Club. Sheldon Charter Oak is renowned as the location of the Charter Oak and its successor monument as well as the former Colt headquarters including Samuel Colt 's family estate, Armsmear . The North East neighborhood

4320-610: The knife-edge breech block and self-cocking device for the "box-lock" Model 1851. This is referred to as the "first contract", which was for 10,000 Model 1851 carbines, of which approximately 1,650 were produced by R&L in Windsor. In 1851, the "second contract" was made, for 15,000 rifles, and the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company was organized as a holding company with $ 1,000 in capital and with John C. Palmer as president, Christian Sharps as engineer, and Richard S. Lawrence as master armorer and superintendent of manufacturing. Sharps

4400-490: The late 1840s until the early 1880s. After the American Civil War, converted army surplus rifles were made into custom firearms, and the Sharps factory produced Models 1869 and 1874 in large numbers for commercial buffalo hunters and frontiersmen. These large-bore rifles were manufactured with some of the most powerful black powder cartridges ever made. Sharps also fabricated special long-range target versions for

4480-563: The line that they agreed on was more than 50 miles (80 km) west of the original settlement. The English began to arrive in 1636, settling upstream from Fort Hoop near the present-day Downtown and Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhoods. Puritan pastors Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone , along with Governor John Haynes , led 100 settlers with 130 head of cattle in a trek from Newtown in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (now Cambridge ) and started their settlement just north of

4560-622: The north. The white population forms a majority in only two census tracts: the downtown area and the far northwest. Nevertheless, many areas in the middle of the city, in Asylum Hill, and in West End, have a significant white population. More than three-quarters (77%) of the Hispanic population was Puerto Rican (with more than half born on the island of Puerto Rico) and fully 33.7% of all Hartford residents claimed Puerto Rican heritage. This

4640-544: The period from April through October is warm to hot in Hartford, with the hottest months being June, July, and August. In the summer months there is often high humidity and occasional (but brief) thundershowers. The cool to cold months are from November through March, with the coldest months in December, January, and February having average highs of 35 to 38 °F (2 to 3 °C) and overnight lows of around 18 to 23 °F (−8 to −5 °C). The average annual precipitation

4720-523: The poorest cities in the country, with three out of ten families living below the poverty threshold. In sharp contrast, the Greater Hartford metropolitan statistical area was ranked 32nd of 318 metropolitan areas in total economic production and 8th out of 280 metropolitan statistical areas in per capita income in 2015. Nicknamed the "Insurance Capital of the World" and "America's filing cabinet",

4800-588: The popular Creedmoor style of 1,000-yard (910 m) target shooting. Many modern black powder cartridge silhouette shooters use original and replica Sharps rifles to target metallic silhouettes cut in the shapes of animals at ranges up to 500 metres (550 yd). Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company and C Sharps Arms of Big Timber, Montana , have been manufacturing reproductions of the Sharps rifle since 1983, respectively. Between 1871 and 1880, Sharps rifles were chambered in 15 different cartridges that had bore diameters of .40, .44, .45, and .50 inches with either

4880-446: The population were Hispanic or Latino, chiefly of Puerto Rican origin. Non-Hispanic Whites were 15.8% of the population in 2010. The city's Hispanic and Latino population primarily consisted of Puerto Ricans (33.63%), Dominicans (3.0%), Mexicans (1.6%), Cubans (0.4%) and other Hispanic or Latinos at 5.63%. The Hispanic and Latino population is concentrated on the city's south side, while African Americans are concentrated in

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4960-550: The precision manufacturing process that enabled the mass production of thousands of his revolvers with interchangeable parts. A variety of industries adopted and adapted these techniques over the next several decades, and Hartford became the center of production for a wide array of products, including: Colt , Richard Gatling , and John Browning firearms; Weed sewing machines ; Columbia bicycles; Pope automobiles; and leading typewriter manufacturers Royal Typewriter Company and Underwood Typewriter Company which together made Hartford

5040-494: The rifle famous. In 1874, the company was reorganized and renamed the "Sharps Rifle Company," and it remained in Hartford until 1876, whereupon it relocated to Bridgeport, Connecticut . The Sharps rifle played a prominent role in the Bleeding Kansas conflict during the 1850s, particularly in the hands of anti-slavery forces. The Sharps rifles supplied to anti-slavery factions earned the name " Beecher's Bibles ", after

5120-651: The river's place, such as Jewell Street and the Conlin-Whitehead Highway . The Köppen climate classification categorizes Hartford as the hot-summer humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfa ) bordering on Cfa humid subtropical under the 0 °C isotherm. Winters are moderately cold, with periods of snow, while summers are hot and humid. Spring and fall are normally transition seasons, with weather ranging from warm to cool. The city of Hartford lies in USDA Hardiness zone 6b-7a. Seasonally,

5200-517: The second-oldest secondary school ( Hartford Public High School ), and the oldest school for deaf children ( American School for the Deaf ), founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet in 1817. It is the location of the Mark Twain House , in which the author Mark Twain wrote his most famous works and raised his family. He wrote in 1868, "Of all the beautiful towns it has been my fortune to see this

5280-411: The site of the Charter Oak , an old white oak tree in which colonists hid Connecticut's Royal Charter of 1662 to protect it from confiscation by an English governor-general. The state adopted the oak tree as the emblem on the Connecticut state quarter. The Charter Oak Monument is located at the corner of Charter Oak Place, a historic street, and Charter Oak Avenue. On December 15, 1814, delegates from

5360-421: The stock. Although long thought to be a coffee mill , experimentation with some of the few survivors suggests the grinder is ill-suited for coffee. The modern consensus is that its true purpose was for grinding corn or wheat or, more appropriately, for grinding charcoal needed in the production of black powder . Unlike the Sharps rifle, the carbine was very popular, and almost 90,000 were produced. By 1863, it

5440-424: The summer, temperatures reach or exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on an average of 17 days per year; in the winter, overnight temperatures can dip to a range of 5 to −5 °F (−15 to −21 °C) on at least one night a year. Tropical storms and hurricanes have also struck Hartford, although the occurrence of such systems is rare and is usually confined to the remnants of such storms. Hartford saw extensive damage from

5520-460: The tiny contingent of Dutch soldiers who were stationed there did little to check the English migration, and the Dutch soon realized that they were vastly outnumbered. The House of Hope remained an outpost, but it was steadily swallowed up by waves of English settlers. In 1650, Peter Stuyvesant met with English representatives to negotiate a permanent boundary between the Dutch and English colonies;

5600-454: The widespread use of repeating rifles. Christian Sharps (1810–1874), patented his rifle in 1848. The first contract for 5,000 rifles was in 1850 and manufacturing started in 1851. The Model 1851 "box-lock" was developed by Christian Sharps, Rollin White , and Richard Lawrence at Robbins & Lawrence of Windsor, Vermont. The second contract for 15,000 rifles was so large that no suitable land

5680-479: The “Typewriter Capitol of the World” during the first half of the 20th century. The Pratt & Whitney Company was founded in Hartford in 1860 by Francis A. Pratt and Amos Whitney. They built a substantial factory in which the company manufactured a wide range of machine tools, including tools for the makers of sewing machines, and gun-making machinery for use by the Union Army during the American Civil War. In 1925,

5760-456: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.33. In the city, the population distribution skews young: 30.1% under the age of 18, 12.6% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 9.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males. The median income for

5840-489: Was a noted clergyman who vehemently opposed slavery and supported the temperance movement and women's suffrage. The Stowes' sister Isabella Beecher Hooker was a leading member of the women's rights movement . In 1860, Hartford was the site of the first " Wide Awakes ", abolitionist supporters of Abraham Lincoln . These supporters organized torch-light parades that were both political and social events, often including fireworks and music, in celebration of Lincoln's visit to

5920-560: Was available in Windsor, Vermont. The holding company advanced Robbins & Lawrence $ 40,000 to purchase 25 acres (100,000 m) of land in Hartford, Connecticut, and to erect a brick factory building. Christian Sharps left the Company in 1853. He later formed a partnership with William Hankins in 1862, known as Sharps & Hankins . In 1855, manufacturing was moved to Hartford and continued until 1876. Operations were then moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut . In 1872, Sharps introduced

6000-461: Was home to an estimated 11,400 Jamaican Americans , as well as another 1,200 people who identified otherwise as West Indian Americans . There were 44,986 households, out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.2% were married couples living together, 29.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.6% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who

6080-611: Was patented September 12, 1848, and manufactured by A. S. Nippes at Mill Creek in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, in 1850. The second model used the Maynard tape primer , and surviving examples are marked Edward Maynard - Patentee 1845 . In 1851, the second model was brought to the Robbins & Lawrence Company (R&L) of Windsor, Vermont , where the Model 1851 was developed for mass production. Rollin White of R&L invented

6160-401: Was the invention of the first single-spindle automatic screw machine. For its next four years, the new firm occupied one of Weed's buildings, milling thousands of screws daily on over 50 machines. Its president was George Fairfield, who ran Weed, and its superintendent was Christopher Spencer, one of Connecticut's most versatile inventors. Soon Hartford Machine Screw outgrew its quarters and built

6240-619: Was the most common weapon carried by Union cavalry regiments, although in 1864 many were replaced by seven-shot Spencer carbines. Some Sharps clones were produced by the Confederates in Richmond . Quality was generally poorer, and they normally used brass fittings instead of iron. The British purchased 1,000 Model 1852 carbines in 1855 which were later used in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . Sharps made sporting versions from

6320-499: Was to be paid a royalty of $ 1 per firearm, and the factory was built on R&L's property in Hartford, Connecticut . The Model 1851 was replaced in production by the Model 1853. Christian Sharps left the company in 1855 to form his own manufacturing company called "C. Sharps & Company" in Philadelphia; Lawrence continued as the chief armorer until 1872 and developed the various Sharps models and their improvements that made

6400-525: Was top in production in front of the Spencer or Burnside carbine . The falling-block action lent itself to conversion to the new metallic cartridges developed in the late 1860s, and many of these converted carbines in .50-70 Government were used during the Indian Wars in the decades immediately following the Civil War. Some Civil War–issue carbines have an unusual feature: a hand-cranked grinder in

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