“Connecticut and the Revolutionary War”
A talk by Manchester Historical Society president and CCSU professor, Steve Armstrong. How did Connecticut cope with the Revolution?
A talk by Manchester Historical Society president and CCSU professor, Steve Armstrong. How did Connecticut cope with the Revolution?
A visit by Ye Olde Lebanon Towne Militia, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Cheney Homestead, 106 Hartford Road. Kids and adults welcome. An outdoor living history demonstration including musket drill and colonial life with demonstrations of cooking, crafts, and military and civilian life of the Revolutionary War era. A food truck will […]
The Yale Peabody Museum will visit, bringing fossils found in the Buckland section of Manchester in the nineteenth century. Visitors can see the actual dinosaur fossils and talk to Yale paleontologists. There will be fun activities for young and old. Throughout 2026, we feature the special exhibit Mathias Spiess Tour Book of Manchester: Dinosaurs, Podunks, […]
Hikers will trace the route of the former railroad, built in 1869 to connect the main rail line in the North End with the Cheney silk mills in the South End. At 2.5 miles, it was the shortest private freight-and-passenger railroad in the United States. We will start our hike in the North End, heading […]
A talk by Manchester Historical Society president and CCSU professor, Steve Armstrong. Looking back to 1976, and reflecting on a previous celebration of our country's founding.
Visit historic Downtown, starting at the parking lot at the corner of Main and Park Streets, near St. James Church (enter the lot from Park Street). The walk will take about 1.5 hours, and will include a visit to the offices of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this […]
A talk by Manchester Historical Society president and CCSU professor, Steve Armstrong, emphasizing primary sources in describing life in the eighteenth century. There will be a book table fundraiser.
Explore "The Green" and visit the Woodbridge Farmstead in this one-hour walking tour. The Green boasts our first post office and the tavern that hosted a visit from George Washington. Meet on the front steps of the Senior Center. Plenty of parking behind the building. Rain or shine.
We'll visit the monuments in the park, noting the memorials to soldiers who fought in the American Revolution, Civil War, and Spanish American War. The Civil War statue was unveiled on September 17, 1877, the 15th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam in Sharpsburg, Maryland, and we'll provide commentary on this huge ceremony with its […]
Free history walk in the Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark District, co-sponsored by the District Commission, and the CT State Community College Manchester Institute of Local History. This two-hour walk visits the former silk mills, and related buildings and streets, with commentary on silk manufacturing, labor relations, and the South Manchester Railroad. This will be […]
Three-mile moderately paced walk at the former Botti farm, farmed for most of the 20th century by immigrants from Italy. We'll offer several options, including a couple of shorter distances. Learn more about the Bush Hill area, which included a Podunk Indian camp, as we explore the Manchester Land Trust's 177.5-acre property in southwestern Manchester. […]
View major examples of re-use of buildings in this one-mile walk in the Historic District. Mill buildings now apartments; firehouse now a museum. Moderate pace along sidewalks. We'll also visit the Cheney Homestead, built in 1785 and opened in 1969 as a house museum.