Manchester Historical Society
CheneyHall
Manchester quiz. Can you answer these questions?
What is this building? Location? In approximately what year was it constructed? Extra credit: Name of architect.
Scroll down for answers.
Manchester welcomed home its veterans
This May 1919 booklet was published for "Welcome Home Day" to honor war veterans -- the war wasn't yet known as World War I. The booklet is on our website. Click the image on the left to open the booklet.
Our free open houses:
Sunday, November 14, from 1:00 to 4:00 at the Cheney Homestead -- Special program "Timothy Cheney and the Mystery(craft) of Early Clock-making." See examples of brass and wooden gear clocks and the Cheneys' significant role in this important American craft. You will learn about how the clocks were made, the lives of master and apprentice clock-makers, and our current efforts to create a permanent clock workshop exhibit at the Cheney Homestead. Our open house includes a school lesson in the 1751 Keeney Schoolhouse, and tours of the 1785 Homestead, art gallery, and gardens. The Homestead and Keeney Schoolhouse are located at 106 Hartford Road. Peter Millett and committee welcome you! Come for a few minutes or for several hours. Donations welcome.
Saturday, December 4. Old Manchester Museum -- open the first Saturday of the month, 10:00 to 2:00, hosted by Bob Kanehl and Art Pongratz, who can help you with some research, using our collection of town directories. Located at 126 Cedar Street, the former schoolhouse's exhibits include copies of old maps, examples of Cheney silk, Pitkin glass, Spencer rifles, Case water-bottling works items. Museum open May to December. There is a small museum store with local history items: books, maps, Pitkin jewelry items, etc.
The History Center welcomes visitors to the CBT exhibit (see info below), and to shop at the museum store or visit our offices. We're open Tuesday through Friday 10:00 to 2:00. The center is located in the former Cheney machine shop, 175 Pine Street.
Connecticut Bank & Trust (CBT) exhibit
Now through December 22, at the History Center, 175 Pine St., Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 to 2:00. Former CBT employees especially welcome to come and see the exhibit. At one time, CBT had 8,000 employees. The bank dates back to 1792.
50 years ago in The Manchester Evening Herald
Sports columnist Earl Yost wrote about the November 1971 Road Race. See the whole edition: Herald 11/11/1971. This story appeared on page 22.
And here's another Road Race story.
Art classes
New for kids during November: “Art of China.” Click the image on the right for more info. Ongoing and new offerings. Info: art classes at the History Center. Questions may be directed to Trudy Mitchell. ONGOING: Classical Drawing -- "Learn the art and science of accurate drawing based on traditional 19th-century methods." Six-week sessions on Saturdays from 9:30-12:30. The art studio is located in the lower level of History Center, a 42,000-square-foot building that used to be the Cheney Machine Shop, and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Find us on Facebook!
For frequent photos and tidbits, check out our Facebook page.
JIGSAW PUZZLE
Click the image on the left to try the puzzle.
Yellow Jacques “gothic” house on No. Main Street. Dr. Jacques is buried in Buckland Cemetery, about which you can read more here.
Counting down to Manchester's 200th anniversary year, which begins January 1, 2023: 415 days.
The Manchester Historical Society is planning exciting activities for the Town's year-long bicentennial celebration. Check out the activities of the 1923 celebration, documented in this booklet on our website.
High school yearbooks
Enjoy the large collection of Somanhis (South Manchester High School) yearbooks on our website. In addition to photos of the graduating seniors, these books have ads for local businesses, photos of school activities, and sometimes poetry and prose by the students. Thanking our volunteers, especially Bob Gauthier, Noreen Cullen, Jim Hall, Joshua Pruden, Dick Jenkins, Susan Barlow.
Answers to quiz
Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, opened in 1867. Artist and architect Charles Howland Hammatt Billings (1818-1874) designed the hall Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road. This grand building fell upon hard times in the 1970s and 1980s, but was carefully restored, and reopened in 1991. Read more about Hammat Billings and other famous architects of Manchester buildings here.
November TV show airs at noon and 8:00 p.m. Saturdays throughout this month --"Joe McCluskey Statue Dedication," a 52-minute television show recorded on November 10, 2019, at the unveiling of the sculpture of Joe McCluskey, Manchester runner and Olympic steeplechase champion, with speeches by the sculptor, Joe's family, Mayor Moran, and members of the Road Race committee. Town Troubadour Bill Ludwig and friends sang an original song about Joe. The show airs at 12:00 noon and 8:00 p.m. on Cox cable channel 15 on Saturdays, and runs on all the Saturdays of the month. The show changes each month. This Channel 15 broadcasts in Manchester, Glastonbury, South Windsor, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, and Newington. Some previous local-history shows can be borrowed at Mary Cheney Library, or purchased at the Historical Society Museum Store. The television show is produced volunteers of the Manchester Historical Society. You can watch some of our previous television shows online at the Town website Historical shows on demand. You can watch this month's show on the Public Access website "Statue Dedication" TV Show on Public Access TV.You can watch some of our previous shows by selecting "Manchester Program Schedule" (the second tab) on the local Public Access website and on the next screen, type Historical into the search box.
Unfortunately, during the pandemic, the cable TV studio and equipment are unavailable to the public, so we will not be able to make new TV shows for a while.
Membership for yourself or --
Consider a gift membership for a friend or loved one. Why join a local historical society, even if you don't live in that town? Some reasons: • support education about the history of the town • support preservation of artifacts and vintage photos • join in advocating for preservation of historic buildings and parks that make Manchester charming.
Print this online donation form and mail to 175 Pine Street. Or drop by the History Center, Tuesdays through Fridays from 10:00 to 2:00. Direct questions to 860-647-9983.
Additional ways to donate: Employer matching gifts! Direct United Way donations to the Society. Sign in to Amazon via Amazon Smile and have a percentage of your purchases go to the Society. .