Manchester quiz.

Hints: • The house is featured in Christopher

Wigren’s book, Connecticut Architecture: Stories of 100 Places published 2018 by the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. • The house is privately owned and not open to the public. 

Extra credit: Who built the house, and for whom?

Sunday, January 15 at 1:00 p.m., 175 Pine Street, meet and greet new officers of the Manchester Historical Society, President, Dennis Gleeson, and Vice President, Bob Kanehl. They'll discuss the history of the Manchester Historical Society and their vision for its future. They are interested in learning your vision for the future, too. Free and open to members and non-members. An RSVP is appreciated but not mandatory. Leave a message at 860-647-9983.

Above, photo of Dennis Gleeson.

Open Wednesday through Friday 10:00 to 2:00, and Saturdays 12:00 noon to 4:00. The exhibit tells the story of Manchester's past as it relates to the future. Photos, artifacts, stories! While you're here, peruse other displays, including vintage signs from former businesses in town.

Museum store: Browse and buy: Local-history books, maps, t-shirts, coffee mugs, magnets, Herald cookbooks, Kage Company plastic décor, note-cards, etc.

Highland News & Tonica Springs Record These fascinating newspapers from the late nineteenth century give us a glimpse into Manchester's past and the water-bottling company that the Case family operated in "The Highlands" – the southeastern part of town. The publications promote the sale of Tonica Water, which was bottled nearby at the springs. Today, the Case Brothers National Historic District, in what we call the Highland Park section of Manchester, includes a wilderness park, former paper mills, the remains of a water-bottling operation, log cabin, and family mansions. To read our online editions: Highland Park and other local newspapers -- scroll down for Highland News and Tonica Springs Record.

Open House at the Cheney Homestead

Sunday, February 12

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, with two new exhibit rooms: • "Women of the Cheney Family," and • "Ingenuity and Industry" of the Cheney family, including a re-creation of Timothy Cheney’s 17th-century wooden clock-making workbench. A $5 donation is appreciated for upkeep of the 1785 Homestead and 1751 Keeney Schoolhouse museums. The Homestead is located at 106 Hartford Road. Come for 10 minutes or stay for hours. A $5 donation is requested for the upkeep of the Homestead.

During our bicentennial year, staff member and newsletter editor Jim Farrell will feature some historical figures in "Humans of Manchester," starting this week with Wunnee. See the schools' Facebook page Humans of Manchester. To read Mathias Spiess's book about Wunnee, see the signed edition here.

Jim Farrell and Paul Ofria also publish "One Manchester," a (usually) weekly free e-newsletter to which you can subscribe! It contains info about Town happenings as well as school topics. Stay informed! To subscribe, click: One Manchester.

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At right, History Center door.

Many activities and events are planned for 2023, including many history events both at the History Center and around the Town. See the online booklet: 23 hikes for 2023, which are free and open to the public. The Historical Society is organizing year-long lectures and activities. Read about the incorporation in this 1823 Courant; see left-most column on page one.

Upcoming events of interest to history buffs and area residents

You can watch this month's show right now by clicking Current TV Program on Manchester Public Access. If you live in the Manchester area, you can watch it on TV, but why not just click and watch now? On TV, the show airs at noon and 8:00 p.m. on Saturdays throughout this month. In this month's show,"Buckland Times” features Susan Way, now of Coventry, as she tells about the research and interviews that went into the creation of a home-town newsletter she published from 1992 to 1998. The newsletters are available on our website. The 60-minute program was originally presented to the Historical Society's genealogy group in 2015. The show airs 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. The television show was produced by Susan Barlow and directed by Kathryn Wilson, volunteers of the Manchester Historical Society. As stated above, you can watch this month's show right now or any time on the Public Access website, by clicking here Current TV Program on Manchester Public Access.

55 years ago in The Manchester Herald

The Saturday, January 6, 1968 Herald contained these items. The editorial about Laurel Park (now part of the Hockanum trail system) is advocating factories for that area. Glad that Manchester has preserved the area as open space for bird watchers and hikers. In the church listings, notice that there are no female ministers heading up Manchester's churches. See the whole edition: January 6, 1968 Herald, or to peruse all our Heralds, see: Index of Heralds.

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 Walter Bunce house, 34 Bidwell Street, was built by Alpheus Quicy. He was born in June 1774 and dealt in real estate in southeastern Connecticut along with his father and brother. As a stonemason, he built several fieldstone houses for prominent citizens and numerous dams in Manchester. The Bunce House is the only extant fieldstone dwelling constructed by Quicy. In his Connecticut architecture book, Christopher Wigren says, "While there are many structures in the Southern states that are attributed to the craftsmanship of African Americans, few such buildings exist in New England."

The house is one of two Manchester listings on the Connecticut Freedom Trail.

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. .