Colchester Historical Society

06/29/2026

Discover local history on Saturday, the 250th anniversary of our country’s independence. All free and open from 11:00 am-2:00 pm.

06/11/2026

This Saturday, June 13th, is Connecticut Open House Day! Visit the Colchester History Museum, the Colchester Burying Ground, the Hayward Fire Museum, Colchester’s School for Colored Children and more all FREE and OPEN on Saturday, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Discover Colchester!

06/10/2026

https://ctvisit.com/articles/celebrate-connecticut-open-house-day-new-london-county-2026

It's the 22nd anniversary of Connecticut Open House Day! That's twenty two years of celebrating the unique array of attractions that make the state so special. Check out what New London County has to offer.

06/06/2026

Explore examples of Colchester furniture and textiles made in the 18th and 19th century right here in town, at the Colchester History Museum. A newly discovered chest on chest by John Bulkeley is on view as well as works by Samuel Loomis III, Amos Ransom, and textiles by Foote family and Cone family women. The exhibit features “Exuberantly Designed” decorative arts made right here in town during the Revolutionary War era! Experience this amazing story at the Colchester History Museum, open Sundays, 11-2 and it’s FREE! It will be worth the trip.
Below: a Colchester made cherry highboy that was once housed in the Morgan Family home, more recently known as Belmont Funeral Home.

05/31/2026

Today, at 2:00, is your chance to be surprised at the stunning furniture and textiles that were made in Colchester in the 18th and 19th centuries! Objects so beautiful that major museums and collectors feature them. Discover these objects at an exhibit and program at the Colchester History Museum, 24 Linwood Avenue, Colchester. FREE, and open on Sundays.

05/27/2026

Did you know that many 18th and 19th-century Colchester-made examples of furniture and textiles are now in the collections of major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, TX, and many more? Why? Because Colchester artisans created some stunning decorative arts in that era. Visit the Colchester History Museum this Sunday, and discover Colchester's exuberant designs in a new exhibit, and stay for an illustrated program at 2:00 pm. You will be AMAZED!!
Shown below is a bedrug made by Colchester's Jerusha Foote Johnson in 1782 and is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX.

04/12/2026

Discover the story of women in Colchester during the Revolutionary War. Join us at the Cragin Memorial Library on Wednesday, April 15th at 6:00 pm.

04/01/2026

The Colchester History Museum will reopen for the season this Sunday, April 5th, 11:00 am -2:00 pm. Come discover Colchester's history, including the community's role in the Revolutionary War, Emerging from the Shadows and so much more! FREE and open on Sundays, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.

03/17/2026

Join the Colchester Historical Society for an insightful presentation on Major General Israel Putnam, led by historian and author Robert Hubbard. The event will take place at Cragin Memorial Library on March 19 at 6:30 PM.
Israel Putnam (1718–1790) was a vibrant and influential figure in 18th-century America, remembered for his pivotal roles in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. In 1758, he narrowly survived being burned alive by Mohawk warriors, and later led a group of 500 men who were shipwrecked near Cuba. Putnam is famously credited with the command, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes,” during the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Detailing Putnam’s close relationships with Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, and John and Abigail Adams, Hubbard’s presentation of Putnam re-examines the life of a revolutionary whose seniority in the Continental Army was second only to that of George Washington.
Robert Ernest Hubbard, author of Major General Israel Putnam: Hero of the Revolutionary War, is a distinguished historian and retired professor from Albertus Magnus College in New Haven.