Burnside Avenue is a main thoroughfare connecting East Hartford, Connecticut

East Hartford, Connecticut

East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,252 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...

's Main Street to Manchester, Connecticut

Manchester, Connecticut

Manchester is a township and city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 58,241.- History :...

. The road is part of U.S. Route 44

U.S. Route 44

U.S. Route 44 is an east–west United States highway that runs for 237 miles through four states in the Northeastern region of the United States. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 209 and New York State Route 55 in Kerhonkson, a hamlet in the Hudson Valley region of New York...

. It runs through a low income portion of East Hartford and is home to a significant population of Hispanic

Hispanic

Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...

s and African Americans. East Hartford Middle school is located near the center of the avenue and is next to the main campus of Goodwin College. The eastern portion of Burnside Avenue has little housing, but is significantly developed with strip malls and restaurants. The Avenue is home to two important parks in East Hartford. Martin Park in the west has a swimming pool and a skating park along with access to many of East Hartford's bike trails. The east of the avenue has an entrance to Wickham Park, a large private park containing an aviary, bike trails, hiking trails, picnic grounds, and a view of Hartford's skyline.

Before the turn of the 20th century, Burnside was colloquially considered a separate village from the rest of East Hartford. Its rough terrain and proximity to the Hockanum river led to early artifice, so that even before the industrial revolution, it was dominated by paper mills. By 1900, Burnside was developing as a streetcar suburb. Its development prior to Pratt and Whitney (1929) explains its high density relative to the post-war housing so prevalent in the remainder of the town.