If you haven't been to one of Hartford's most historic sites yet...

Here's a great little article from the Reminder about free lunchtime tours of downtown's Ancient Burying Grounds. Best of all, the tours are conducted by Hartford middle-schoolers, specially selected and trained.

In case the article goes away: "For more information about summer tours of the site, contact Andrea Ader at 860-742-5234. For more information about the cemetery, visit www.theancientburyingground.org or contact the Ancient Burying Ground Association at 860-561-2585."

Saturday: Great deals at Hartford museums, landmarks, & other attractions

Count the following among those offering free or reduced-price admission on Saturday, in conjunction with the eighth-annual Connecticut Open House Day:

• Bushnell Park Carousel
• Butler-McCook House & Garden
• Cinestudio at Trinity College
• Connecticut Historical Society & Museum
• Governor's Residence
• Hartford Base Ball Grounds at Colt Meadows
• Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
• Mark Twain House & Museum
• Old State House
• Wadsworth Atheneum of Art 

Check the state's tourism website, ctvisit.com, for details on what's being offered by these institutions and others around the state.

Get ready for the Connecticut Freedom Trail website

Update: The site is live now, and you'll find a brochure here.

The public is invited to a reception at the state Capitol on Thursday, February 17, to mark the launch of  www.ctfreedomtrail.org, a site to show off the Connecticut Freedom Trail. In case you're unfamiliar with the Trail, here's how the state Commission on Culture and Tourism describes it:

In recognizing the importance to Connecticut of numerous sites in the state that are associated with the heritage and movement towards freedom of its African American citizens, the Connecticut General Assembly in 1995 authorized that these locations be developed into a Freedom Trail. Included on the trail are buildings reported to have been used on the Underground Railroad, sites associated with the Amistad case of 1839-1842, and grave sites, monuments, homes, and other structures that represent the concept of freedom so cherished in the American mind.

The reception is sponsored by the Commission, Governor Dannel P. Malloy, state Senator Toni N. Harp, the Amistad Committee Inc., the Connecticut Freedom Trail Committee. It begins at 1 p.m. in the Old Judiciary Room of the Capitol, at 210 Capitol Avenue in Hartford. Here's a flyer.

Remembering Bruce Fraser

Bruce Fraser, who became executive director of the Connecticut Humanities Council in 1982 and built it into a national example of how a state can promote its history, died recently after a long battle with cancer.

The history magazine Connecticut Explored has posted on its site a moving tribute to Fraser from State Historian Walter Woodward. "For the last 30 years," Woodward writes, "virtually every history program of substance produced in Connecticut could have carried the credit line, 'Brought to you in part by Bruce Fraser.'"

How CNNMoney.com views Hartford

CNNMoney.com has ranked Hartford the country's fifth-best metropolitan area in which to launch a small business.  While that may have many of us scratching our heads--especially in light of near-daily bummers like the City Council's acknowledgment last week that the Project Mayor project planned for the vacant corner of Main and Park streets will never become reality--it's worth noting that CNNMoney.com repeatedly references the city's history:

"The past few years have seen new life--hotels, restaurants, a convention center and a science center--sprouting in the historic city, where you'll also find the country's first public art museum and oldest public park."

There's even a photo of the Old State House. It all speaks to the potential for using the Hartford area's history as a draw not just for visitors but new residents. Heck, it seems to be one of the positive attributes people already associate with us, so why not get the most out of it?