Open Wednesday through Friday 10:00 to 2:00, and Saturdays 12:00 noon to 4:00.

Original artwork depicting Manchester's past -- local artists young and old have created artistic expressions in paint, fabric, and photography. Some items are for sale. There are also Manchester maps to admire -- walk down to Room 4 (4th room from the entrance on Pine Street)

This exhibit tells the story of Manchester's past through photos, objects, and artwork. While you're here, peruse other displays, including vintage signs from former businesses in town, such as Marlow's and Savings Bank of Manchester.

Museum store items: Local-history books, maps, t-shirts, coffee mugs, magnets, Herald cookbooks, note-cards, Somanhis yearbooks, Pitkin Glass Works jewelry, postcards, etc.

← Herald clipping

The Memorial Day parade

June 3 and the first Saturday of each month through December, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Open house and socializing at the 1859 former school, located at 126 Cedar Street. There are exhibits, artwork, old maps, and a small museum shop with local-history items for sale. Come for a few minutes, or stay longer. Our hosts may be able to help you with some research -- there is a collection of Town directories at the museum. Visit with hosts Bob Kanehl and Art Pongratz.

Our online booklet: 23 hikes for 2023 lists free history hikes. Printed copies of the booklet are available at the History Center, 175 Pine Street during regular hours. Upcoming walks of interest to history buffs and area residents -- FREE. These events will be held rain or shine. Details in the booklet, whose link is above.

Our own museums will be open, 11:00 to 3:00, • the Woodbridge Farmstead, 495 East Middle Turnpike. • History Center, 175 Pine Street. • Cheney Homestead, gardens, Keeney schoolhouse, 106 Hartford Road. • Old Manchester Museum, 126 Cedar Street. Plus our nearby friends, the Pitkin Glass Works, corner of Parker and Putnam Streets, and the Connecticut Fireman's Historical Society Museum, 230 Pine Street.

These surveys include descriptions of selected historic areas, buildings, and features of Manchester. You can search by street here.

Sunday, June 11 from 1:00 to 4:00. Experience Early American lifestyle -- the 1785 homestead with period furnishings as the people experienced life at the time. The house is staged, on the first floor, in 1818. The second floor reflects 1840. A $5 donation is appreciated for upkeep of the 1785 Homestead. The Homestead is located at 106 Hartford Road. Come for 10 minutes or stay for hours.

←click the image to solve.

Hose Company No. 4, with the former utility/heating plant building and Cheney Technical School in the background. Those buildings are now part of Bennet Academy for the Town's fifth and sixth grade students. More about the firehouse.

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105 years ago in The Manchester Herald

Clippings from the Saturday, May 25, 1918, Herald (no May 26 edition). The Great War was still raging in Europe, and the Red Cross was helping wounded soldiers.See the whole edition: May 25, 1918 Herald, or to peruse all our Heralds, see: Index of Heralds. See a history of The Herald on our website.

Enjoy the large collection of Somanhis (South Manchester High School) and junior high 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.

The 1973 church listings did not include any female clergy. See the whole Herald edition for May 26, 1973 here.

Speaking of churches, the Sunday May 28 history walk will visit Center Congregational Church, next to the Town Hall. Meet at 1:00 p.m. on the front steps of Town Hall, 41 Center Street. Plenty of parking behind Town Hall and near the church. We'll hear commentary and history about the early connection of the church and Town. May 28 is our 200th birthday as an incorporated town, the day Governor Ellsworth Grant signed the incorporation document. The walk is one of the "23 Walks in 2023."

Pulpit at Center Church.

Sunday, June 25 from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m., open house at the Woodbridge Farmstead, 495 East Middle Turnpike. Free, donations welcome. Come for 10 minutes or two hours to visit the 18th-century barn and the 1830s-era farmhouse. Displays showing some of the history of the Manchester Green area are inside our Visitor Center Barn. Bring an easel to do some plein air painting or take some artistic photos. Crafts and games will be available for the children. The Farmstead is located at Manchester Green, near the intersection of East Middle Turnpike with Woodbridge Street. Visitors can park at the municipal lot behind the Senior Center, in the lot behind the barns, or along the street between the Senior Center and the farmstead itself. From the street, walk to the backyard using the grass driveway between the house and Woodbridge Pizza. Additional open houses will be held throughout the summer, generally on the second Sunday of the month. For a poster with old and new photos, click Woodbridge open house.

You can watch this month's show on the Public Access website Current TV Program on Manchester Public Access. This month, we're re-running "Pride in Manchester Week,” a 71-minute 2015 television show about the formerly named Pride week, now called Celebrate Manchester. The TV show describes the free activities in Manchester during early June, and follows the history of Pride week, including the 1914 Homeland Day on which it was based, and a town-wide cleanup day led by the late Joseph Negri. Committee members describe the process of bringing together the activities, and what goes on behind the scenes, including fundraising, with major support from the Town of Manchester, local grant-making foundations, and individuals and businesses. The TV show is produced by Historical Society volunteers. 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. You can watch this month's show ANY TIME on the Public Access website Current TV Programs on Manchester Public Access.

←click the image to view the booklet.

This booklet was published in 1923, the Town's 100th anniversary of incorporation. Lots of interesting info, photos, and advertisements from 100 years ago.

The Homestead at 106 Hartford Road, Manchester, was donated to the Manchester Historical Society by the Cheney family in 1968 for use as a house museum. It's usually open to the public on the second Sunday of the month and for special programs at other times throughout the year. For old photos and history of the Homestead, built in 1785, visit Cheney Homestead history. The replica Keeney Schoolhouse is on the grounds of the Homestead. Originally built in 1751, the schoolhouse had deteriorated so much that new materials had to be incorporated in the 1976 reconstruction.

The History Center at 175 Pine Street, Manchester, was purchased in 1999. Our offices and many collections are in this building, which is the former Cheney Brothers Machine Shop, a 40,000-square-foot building constructed in several phases beginning in 1895. For the current exhibit, it's open Wednesday through Friday from 10:00 to 2:00, and Saturday noon to 4:00. Visit: photo tour of lower level of History Center.

The Old Manchester Museum at 126 Cedar Street, Manchester, is owned by the Town of Manchester, and the Society has rented it since the 1980s. We store collections there, and open it to the public on the first Saturday of the month, May through December from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., staffed by hosts Art Pongratz and Bob Kanehl. The building was formerly a school, built in 1859, and moved to this location in 1914. More: Old Manchester Museum.

Woodbridge Farmstead at 495 East Middle Turnpike, at Manchester Green, is a charming combination of vintage buildings and a bucolic landscape. The farmhouse dates from 1830. The Woodbridge Farm and Meadowbrook Dairy once encompassed many acres at Manchester Green. Today, the house and grounds are owned by the Manchester Historical Society – a gift from the late Raymond and Thelma Carr Woodbridge, who gave the property in 1998, reserving a life use. Weather permitting, the farmstead is open for free tours and programs generally on the second and fourth Sundays of the warmer months, from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. Closed for the season.

Silk Vault Building at 110 Elm Street, Manchester, was purchased by the Society in 2017. A unique building, constructed in 1920. More: Silk Vault. The vault is rented out, and isn't open to the public.

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. .