Where is this trolley going? Do you wish we still had trolleys? Extra credit: Approximately when was this picture taken?

Scroll down for answers.

• Sunday, August 13 from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. At this open house, we're celebrating Thelma Woodbridge’s birthday with cake and lemonade. She would be 112 years old. In honor of Thelma’s many years as an educator in Manchester, we are hosting a book swap. Bring a book and take a book home. Find a shady spot while you’re here and read a book or two. Sign in at our greeting table and you will be entered into our prize drawing for the day.

• Sunday, August 27 from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. The Town Historian will visit at 12:30 to talk about Manchester's 200th and 100th anniversaries, as well as the beginnings of Manchester in 1823. We'll discuss the dramatic changes in these time periods. 

The Farmstead Museum 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 are generally on the second and fourth Sunday of the summer months.

For a poster with old and new photos, click Woodbridge open house.

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)

Then & Now exhibit

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.

We sell local history items: books, maps, note-cards, magnets, coffee mugs. Hours are the same as the exhibit.

Find historic and genealogical information in this Manchester fire staff listing researched by volunteers Doug Welch and Noreen Cullen in October 2019. The listing includes volunteer and paid members of the South Manchester Fire Department, Town of Manchester Fire Department, and Manchester Fire-Rescue-EMS Department. Doug and Noreen gathered information from old newspaper articles, fire company logbooks, census records, cemetery records, town directories, and other sources. They mention that, "It doesn't list all members of the various fire companies, but due to the scarcity of early company or department personnel records, it is the best resource currently available. The information is not an official Fire Department document and was created for its research value only." Note: The number in the 4th column refers to the Fire Station number. Here is the listing. .

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.

Saturday, August 5, 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. Free admission. Donations welcome.

Just down the street from the History Center -- why not visit both? The Fire Museum is open Fridays and Saturdays, 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m., throughout thesummer and fall. It's located at 230 Pine Street.

The 1785 homestead will be closed during July and August, reopening in September.

An amazing collection scanned by dedicated volunteers! They're searchable. See them here.

←click the image to solve.

-- 1925 John Knoll photo. More info about summertime in Manchester's past here.

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40 years ago in The Manchester Herald

Clippings from the Thursday, July 28, 1983, Herald. The Herald invited readers to send in their memories of old times in Manchester, so you can read about Pritchard's ice cream. Note that Pillowtex was seeking employees to sew, but the Help Wanted ad looks as though they're seeking waste systems. See the whole edition: July 28, 1983 Herald, or to peruse all our Heralds, see: Index of Heralds. See a history of The Herald on our website.

Saturday, July 29, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., we'll recognize Manchester’s bicentennial at Center Congregational Church, which formed on July 29, 1779, with a free exhibit of commemorative plates from many of the faith communities of Manchester and surrounding areas. Another reflection of our church’s past will be a display of the quilt crafted in the 1940s by the women of the church. Many thanks to the donors and lenders of the plates! The church is located at 11 Center Street.

The trolley is going to Laurel Park, on the Manchester-East Hartford town line. Dancing, boat rides, a carousel -- summer fun from 1895 until 1923. Yes, I do wish we still had trolleys.

This photo was in a Herald vintage photo feature that was published in the 1970s and 1980s. More about Laurel Park. Below, a May 25, 1918 ad for Laurel Park's opening day.

You can watch this month's show at any time on the Public Access website -- just click "Manchester Armory" show on Public Access TV. This month, we're re-running "The Armory Then and Now,” a 58-minute television show recorded May 2, 2017 about the former armory on Main Street near Haynes Street. 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 (see link above).

←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.

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 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 12:00 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. .