Manchester Historical Society
Manchester quiz.
Can you answer these questions?

What building is this? Location?

Extra credit: Year originally built?

Hint: It's not the first building at this location.

Scroll down for answers.
Historical Society lecture series & membership drive
Robert Kanehl will present a free event series to encourage membership in the Historical Society. The events will be interactive, so bring questions and comments. New member forms will be available, and new members will receive a free copy of the illustrated booklet The Miracle Workers, a $15 value. Here's the schedule:

Sunday October 30 at 1:00 p.m. “The Manchester Green.”
Sunday November 6 at 1:00 p.m. "Famous People From Manchester.”
Sunday November 13 at 1:00 p.m., Bob will have an open conversation with audience members about the history of Manchester. Have your questions ready!

Donations, as always, are gratefully accepted. Questions may be directed to 860-647-9983 or
Lectures will be presented at the History Center, 175 Pine Street. The building is accessible to wheelchairs.

Mr. Kanehl is the author of Historical Tales of Manchester, Connecticut and several novels. He writes a biweekly Journal Inquirer column to teach Manchester history to the younger generations and residents unfamiliar with the town’s past. He volunteers as a docent at the Old Manchester Museum and the Woodbridge Farmstead.
Then & Now exhibit
History Center, 175 Pine Street.
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.
Jigsaw puzzle.

1954 Downtown Main Street, looking northeast.

Photo by Sylvian Ofiara (1926-2012). Click on the image to try your hand at the puzzle. Click this link to see more photos by Sinch Ofiara.
2023 marks Manchester's 200th anniversary
Many activities and events are planned for 2023, including many history events both at the History Center and around the Town. Stay tuned for more information.
For the advance planners and for artists interested in a booth
Art Fair
Sunday, November 26
Plan to come view and shop at the History Center, free admission. Also, there are a few openings for vendors. A booth costs $20 for the day. For information contact: [email protected].
Open House at the Old Manchester Museum at 126 Cedar Street, Manchester, Saturday, November 5 -- the first Saturday of the month -- from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., staffed by hosts Art Pongratz and Bob Kanehl. Drop by for a short chat or stay for a few hours. Some research resources available, including Town directories and vintage maps. More: Old Manchester Museum.
Open House at the Cheney Homestead
Sunday, November 13 from 1:00 to 4:00. Experience Early American lifestyle -- the 1751 schoolhouse and 1785 homestead are alive in 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. The Homestead is located at 106 Hartford Road. $5 suggested donation. Come for 10 minutes or stay all afternoon. Bring a book and sit outdoors to read, if you want. The grounds are beautiful.
Homestead from across the lawn.
Part of "Cheney Women" exhibit.
Upcoming events of interest to history buffs
  • OF INTEREST: Sunday, October 30 at 1:00 p.m., in Rockville, the public is invited to tour the Francis T. Maxwell House, designed by Charles Adams Platt (1861-1933), a renowned architect and one of America’s most influential landscape designers. Located at 9 North Park Street, Vernon, the Colonial-Classical Revival mansion was built in 1902-1904, Platt’s first large-scale project, which integrates the mansion and the surrounding landscape. Susan Barlow, Manchester’s Town Historian, will speak about Platt’s work, and his roots in Connecticut as a member of the Cheney family, prominent in Manchester for their silk manufacturing. Dennis Cartier, of Rockville Elks Lodge #1359, will lead a tour of the building. After visiting the mansion, we will walk to two other Platt buildings in Rockville: Kellogg Lawn, now Rockville Hospital, and the Maxwell Memorial Library, returning to our cars after the walk. Park and meet at 9 North Park Street, Rockville. Rain or shine.
  • OF INTEREST: Saturday, November 12 at 1:00 p.m., history walk at the Town Center and the Masonic Temple, led by the Town Historian. The 1926 Masonic lodge on East Center Street is for sale, and this may be a last opportunity to view the spectacular inside. Meet at the front steps of the Town Hall, 41 Center Street. Plenty of parking behind and on the side of the Town Hall. We'll also visit two other fraternal sites and Center Memorial Park.
CheneyHall
October television show
The Historical Society television show airs at noon and 8:00 p.m. on Saturdays throughout this month. Watch "Cheney Hall,” a 40-minute television that describes this magnificent building through illustrations and stories. Cheney Hall, built in the French Second Empire style, was designed by architect C. H. Hammatt Billings. It was dedicated in 1867 and served as a community hall and location for concerts, lectures, rallies, and plays. It fell into disrepair in the 1970s, but underwent a renovation that saved its life and brought it back to its current welcoming and accessible building, busy with activities year 'round, and a local and regional attraction. Read more about Cheney Hall at "Places to Visit" on our website. The TV show is produced by Historical Society volunteers. 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. You can watch this month's show right now on your computer, through the Public Access website "Cheney Hall" show.
45 years ago in The Manchester Herald
The October 28, 1977 Herald reported election news and the Thanksgiving Day Road Race. See the whole edition: October 28, 1977 Herald, or to peruse all our Heralds, see: Index of Heralds.
Find us on Facebook!
For frequent photos and tidbits, check out our Facebook page.
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
Bonus jigsaw: click the Porter Street School image above. More about Porter Street and the man for whom it was named.

Article on the right, from the August 31, 1928 Manchester Herald. See the whole edition here.
That's Highland Park School, 395 Porter Street, which replaced the wooden Porter Street School (pictured below left). The Highland Park School opened in 1928. It was one of five schools built in the 1920s, and the last to be built until 1950, when Manchester undertook an extensive school building program. In 1983 there was an unsuccessful plan to close the school. The school was expanded most recently in 2013.
Our properties
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.
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. .