Manchester Historical Society news & history

Special invitation --

bring family, friends, neighbors!

GREAT BIG DAY!

CT Open House Day in Manchester

Saturday, June 13 -- We are enthusiastically participating in this state-wide event -- our Historical Society museums will be open free 11:00 to 3:00. Other local locations open that day: Pitkin Glass Works, the Fire Museum, Mill Studio of Fine Arts, and the Lutz Children's Museum. More info on our Events page, and on the State's page.

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The Cheney Homestead, 106 Hartford Road, will host Family Day, including:

• Interactive Colonial era songs with Manchester Town Troubadour, Christian Loftus

• Children’s history scavenger hunt with prizes

• Colonial era children’s games and crafts

• Complimentary Shady Glen ice cream.

• Tours of the 1785 Homestead and 1751 replica Keeney Schoolhouse.

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The Woodbridge Farmstead, 495 East Middle Turnpike, invites guests to:

• Stroll the grounds of a farm that was already running during the Revolution and hear our George Washington story

• Enjoy refreshments and professional songsters Judy Handler and Mark Levesque

• Learn about farming in the restored 18th and 19th century barns

• Play old-fashioned children's games

• Take a guided tour of the circa 1830 farmhouse.

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The Old Manchester Museum, 126 Cedar Street, has a new dinosaur exhibit, along with information about the earliest residents of the Manchester area, with items from the Peabody Museum at Yale. Information about author and historian Mathias Spiess. Old and new exhibits include Pitkin glass, Cheney silk, a Spencer rifle, vintage voting machine. Browse the small museum store.

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Our headquarters and museum, the History Center at 175 Pine Street, is open year round, Wednesday through Saturday (usually 10:00 to 2:00, but on open house day, extending to 3:00). Constructed beginning in 1895, the former Cheney machine shop is on the National Register of Historic Places. Visit the popular Then and Now exhibit, staged in a hallway of reclaimed architectural features from schools and other buildings that were renovated or demolished. View the extensive North End exhibit, with photos, videos, and memorabilia. Meet our volunteers and explore the research resource. Museum store with local history books, maps, coffee mugs, etc.

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Our friend and neighbor The Mill Studio of Fine Arts, 199 Forest Street, founded in 2019, is dedicated to the study and practice of traditional drawing and painting. Originally a community studio for Manchester and surrounding towns, visiting painting instructors have brought followers from across the country as well as the world through Zoom. Our teaching is rooted in the time-honored methods of 19th-century ateliers, with a focus on classical realism. All levels of artistic experience are welcome.

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Our friend and neighbor The CT Firemen's Historical Society Museum, 230 Pine Street, a restored 1901 fire station with equipment and photos -- celebrating the building's 125th anniversary, a building that was slated for demolition until volunteers stepped forward.

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Our friend The Lutz Children's Museum, 247 South Main Street, "buzzing with exciting activities, storytimes, and crafts and free all day."

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Our friend The Pitkin Glass Works, at the intersection of Putnam and Parker Streets, welcomes visitors. Park on surrounding side streets.

FATHER'S DAY GIFT OPPORTUNITY!

Come visit the museum store

175 Pine Street

Open FREE Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 to 2:00 all year. Shop at the museum store, which features Pitkin Glass Works jewelry, local history books, maps, themed t-shirts, coffee mugs, and more. Please consider a gift membership for your dad -- online or phone us at 860-647-9983.

Our popular Then and Now exhibit, one of several exhibits to see at the History Center, which is open year 'round.

If you can't make it to an open house on June 13....

Additional seasonal open houses at our museums, June through October. Come visit! Free!

• Cheney Homestead and Keeney Schoolhouse, 106 Hartford Road, open first and third Sundays, 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. Visit the 1785 house and exhibits, and the replica one-room schoolhouse.

• Old Manchester Museum, 126 Cedar Street, open the first Saturday of the month, 10:00 to 2:00. The former school has maps, photos, exhibits, and displays.

• Woodbridge Farmstead, 495 East Middle Turnpike, open second and fourth Sundays 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m., with tours and activities for young, old, and in between.

• Our friend and neighbor, the Fire Museum, 230 Pine Street, open Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with vintage fire-fighting apparatus.

Jigsaw

← Click image to solve the puzzle. An 1883 postcard of the former Oak Grove paper mills, in the area of today's Oak Grove Nature Center. More about Oak Grove mills here.

Find us on Facebook!

For frequent photos and tidbits, check out our Facebook page.

BECOME A MEMBER

Contact info:

History Center phone: 860-647-9983. Mailing address: 175 Pine Street, Manchester CT 06040. General email and to reach the curator of our collections: info@manchesterhistory.org Contact the e-news editor.

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 the first and third Sundays of the month May through October, and for special programs at other times throughout the year, including June open-museum day and December holiday openings.

The Keeney Schoolhouse on the Homestead grounds, with identical open hours. Our one-room schoolhouse was originally built on Keeney Street about 1751, and in 1975 the Town's Bicentennial Committee voted to restore the building, but it had deteriorated so a replica was built, using as many original materials as possible.

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. Open Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 to 2:00, except holidays.

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.

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 months May through October, from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m.

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