Open House Day — History Close to Home
Across Connecticut, the public is invited to visit history museums. The Manchester Historical Society will have all its museum properties open, so please come visit — stay for 10 minutes or several hours!
Cheney Homestead and Keeney Schoolhouse, 106 Hartford Road, with
- 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.
Old Manchester Museum, 126 Cedar Street, with The Mathias Spiess Tour Book: Dinosaurs, Podunks, Colonists, featuring artifacts from prehistoric times to the colonial era, with assistance from the Peabody Museum at Yale and our own Lutz Children’s Museum. There is a small museum store with local-history books, coffee mugs, etc.
Woodbridge Farmstead, 495 Middle Turnpike East, 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.
History Center and Museum, 175 Pine Street, with fascinating exhibits in the former Machine Shop, constructed beginning in 1895 and now on the National Register of Historic Places. Visit the museum store for local history items: books, maps, jewelry, coffee mugs, tee-shirts.