Berlin Historical Society

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Berlin Historical Society

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Berlin Historical Society is a non-profit organization exploring the rich history of Berlin, Connect

Berlin Historical Society is a non-profit organization exploring the rich history of Berlin, Connecticut.

10/28/2026

Friends of Worthington Meeting House and Berlin Historical Society are hosting this event on November 7th. It's another opportunity to view the interior of the building and learn more about future plans for it to be our new museum, and a cultural community center for the public.

This is a family friendly event. Click on the flyer for details.

10/17/2026

At the last cemetery history talk, an audience member asked about Marjorie Moore and trees planted using money from the fund she left to benefit worthy projects in our town. That fund still exists and makes annual grants to non profits. Cathy Nelson was able to find articles from the 1950s about the planting of those trees on Briar Lane, Heather Lane, Glenbrook, Overhill Drive, Patterson Way, York Road & Sterling Drive. The types of trees mentioned for York Road and Sterling Drive were Japanese crabapple, and Japanese Hopas. We searched for "Hopas" online and could find nothing except "Hops", but that is a vine. Other articles mention shade trees, but not the variety. We wonder if any of these trees still exist.

10/17/2026

Berlin Historical Society and Friends of Worthington Meeting House invite the public to attend a special celebration of the repainting of Berlin's most important historic public building. The building will be open for viewing. It's a rare chance to get inside and envision the plans for it to be museum and cultural community space.

10/12/2026

These. photos from Berlin's 175th anniversary of incorporation as a town in 1785 were shared with us by member, Linda Huck. The photos are from Jimmy Golan, taken at a parade in 1960. It happened to be a presidential election year. You will recognize businesses on Main Street, Kensington, and maybe some people. One of them shows a flat bed truck about to go under the railroad underpass carrying a replica of Worthington School (was Worthington Meeting House when the town was incorporated). Enjoy the flashback in time!

10/09/2026

Cathy Nelson and Sallie Caliandri will present their last history talk of the season on Tuesday, October 13th, 6 pm at Berlin Peck Library’s Delaney Room. This is a survey of all the town cemeteries with a concentration on our oldest on Christian Lane. To watch on Zoom live, please contact the library. The library adds videos of these talks to their YouTube site within a week of the event.

10/08/2026

This week brought another expert in their field to our museum. Shane Lanin from the International Brick Collectors Association met with our brick expert member, Nancy Moran. Shane is working on creating a segment of their website about brick companies in Connecticut. After talking with Nancy for 1 1/2 hrs, and having a private tour of the museum, he proclaimed it the best small museum he has seen in CT. He felt our brick display was the best representation of a town's industry he has seen.

We often get this kind of feedback from expert historians. And just regular folks are always astonished the first time they step into the museum floor. If you've never been, we are open Saturdays, 1-4 through mid December. And...it's all free.

10/06/2026

Sallie Caliandri and Cathy Nelson continue a series of History Talks - today, October 6th, 1pm, at Berlin Senior Center. Today, the talk is on Beckley Cemetery, one of our oldest. It’s the cemetery on Deming Road, set up on a hill just before Cold Spring Brook Farm. (Note, the monument pictured here is in Maple Cemetery). All these talks are free and open to the public.

10/06/2026

This house, in the Worthington Ridge Historic District, is known as "Cherryfields" , and is thought to have been built in 1800. Its architectural details are among the best you will see. When researching a local historic home, the go to source is a multi-volume survey done in 1984 as part of Berlin's 1985 Bicentennial celebration of the town's incorporation. Both Berlin Historical Museum and the Berlin Peck Library's History Room have copies. The study outlines architectural details and the history of who built each home and what notable residents it had over time. Details are in the pages attached describing this home.

10/03/2026

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood! The museum is open 1-4.

10/02/2026

Many thanks to Hunter Ambulance for donating their Yankee Peddler cutout to us for our tin collection. Hunter Ambulance won in the business category of Berlin’s America 250 patriotic decorating contest. The peddler happened to arrive today in time for a visit from the daughter of Ohio tinsmiths, Carl & Marcia Giordano.(www.cg-tinsmith.com). Jennifer was here for a conference at Eversource, and when her parents learned she was going to be in Berlin, they were excited that she could arrange a visit with us. We got to FaceTime with them. The Giordanos have made tin for Williamsburg, Old Sturbridge Village, Tasha Tudor and other museums. Growing up in a family of tinsmiths, Jennifer spent years traveling with them to heritage festivals and re-enactments. It’s heart warming for us when visitors with a passion for history visit and appreciate all we do.

Address

305 Main Street, PO Box 8192
Berlin, CT
06037

Opening Hours

1pm - 4pm

Telephone

+18608285114

Website

http://berlincthistorical.org/

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