Historic Stonington

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Historic Stonington

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Historic Stonington was founded in 1895. The Capt. Palmer House is open Saturdays and Sundays through December 13th. Our National Historic Site, the Nathaniel B.

Guided tours are offered on the hour 10am - 3pm. The Woolworth Library is open Monday 1pm-5pm, Wednesday 9am-5pm, and Friday 1pm- 5pm. The mission of the Stonington Historical Society is to preserve, interpret, and celebrate the history of all of Stonington. Our Society is dedicated to illuminating the more than 350 years of history of the Town of Stonington, located in the southeastern corner of Connecticut. We offer here records of the lives and fortunes of colonial settlers, blockade runners, ship captains, whale hunters, patriots, explorers, artists, and writers. We recall the struggles between Native Americans and Europeans, the repulse of British forces in 1775 and 1814, the exploration of distant oceans by Stonington seafarers. We see Stonington's era as a polyglot seaport, a community of English, Portuguese, Irish, Italians, Germans, and African Americans. There are glimpses too of later years, when Stonington became known as a city-dwellers' refuge from the twentieth century, where village life and community survived. We invite you to explore the resources of this site, and to see Stonington in person as well. When you come, take the time to visit our three historic sites:

The Old Lighthouse Museum, where you can climb into its light tower and look far out toward the Atlantic. Palmer House, home of the Stonington seafarer credited with discovering Antarctica. The Richard W. Woolworth Library, a growing archive of local records, manuscripts, and photographs, serving a national research audience. Please visit us at any or all of our sites. You will find a warm welcome. Wish to support our efforts? You can become a Member and/or make a donation! MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Membership includes a subscription to Historical Footnotes and free admission to our museum sites and research library. Members are notified of coming programs and exhibitions and are entitled to a ten percent discount on our books and most gift shop items. Membership Applications are available at each of our sites and through our website: www.stoningtonhistory.org

HOW TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION
The Stonington Historical Society welcomes financial contributions to support its efforts to preserve and display the rich history of the Town. The organization enjoys the 501 (c) (3) status of a charitable institution. Please make checks payable to The Stonington Historical Society and mail them to:

The Stonington Historical Society
P.O. Box 103
Stonington, CT 06378

11/01/2026

You may have noticed construction fencing up at the Lighthouse Museum. Please be advised the building and surrounding grounds are closed until the spring as we work to build an accessible entrance for our visitors and local community.

10/30/2026

One of our favorite Halloween pictures in our archives, is this great shot by Rollie McKenna from 1968. What was your favorite Halloween costume? Do you have any memories of the best houses for trick or treating? Or a particularly impish prank you still laugh about to this day? Tell us in the comments!

10/28/2026

It's almost Halloween! This postcard from the Jack Fix Collection dates to the early 20th century and bears an important reminder: "If something scares you and you want to run, remember it's only Halloween fun!"

10/26/2026

Don't forget to join us this Wednesday at the La Grua Center for an evening with Dr. Cornelia H. Dayton as she explores the lives of women during the American Revolution. All are welcome! We hope to see you there!

10/24/2026

This is a friendly reminder that our museums have moved over to fall hours. The Lighthouse Museum is closed for the season, and will reopen in 2027. The Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer House is open weekends only through December 13th, with timed tours on the hour between 10am and 3pm.

10/23/2026

For the past few months, Hailey Powers who is a graduate student in the MLIS program at the University of Rhode Island, has been interning with us at the Woolworth Library. During her time here, she has worked on organizing a collection of financial materials from the First National Bank of Stonington. She has also spent quite a bit of time combing through the extensive collection of materials on the Portuguese population in Stonington in order to create a subject guide for researchers. This has been really exciting for Hailey, as she has been able to simultaneously make new discoveries in her own family’s genealogy, learning about her maternal grandmother’s family and her life in the Borough. We will be sad to see Hailey go, but are so grateful to her dedicated efforts in the archives!

10/22/2026

Trade card for Mrs. Mary Jane Cook Pendleton's shop on Water Street, which is now the location of Tom's News Stand. Mary was married to Lighthouse Keeper, Captain Benjamin "Frank" Pendleton. Her establishment for news, stationary and confectionery provided for their family (of six children!) during her husband's long, uncertain forays into sea commerce. Captain Frank was the son of Harris Pendleton, a master mariner who built the brick house at 35 Main Street. He was also related to the Benjamin Pendleton who commanded the sealing expedition that led to Nathaniel Brown Palmer's sighting of Antarctica in 1820. Frank spent his life aboard ships, and was 49 years old when he was appointed keeper of the Stonington Lighthouse in 1872.

10/20/2026

You all were so helpful in identifying members of the Cottrell Lumber Company, that we have one more photo that needs your expertise! We know Bill Dodge is the elder gentleman at left center, and Carl Jeckel is the fellow at center with glasses, but can you help us identify the rest? Thank you all so much for your assistance, we greatly appreciate it.

10/18/2026

The old Mason homestead, as it appeared in 1933. This home burned down in February of 1952 as part of a brush fire that destroyed nearly 50 acres. The home was abandoned at the time of the fire, and thanks to the quick response of five local companies, the more populated part of the island was spared. Mason's Island, originally known as Chippechaug Island, was part of the land grant given to Major John Mason, and later passed down to his son Lieutenant Daniel Mason, who settled on a portion of the land given by his father after his marriage to Rebecca Hobart in 1679. (The house pictured here does not date from that time.) When Grace Denison Wheeler published her book "Homes of our Ancestors" in 1900, direct descendants of Daniel Mason were still living on the island.

10/16/2026

Join us at the La Grua Center on Wednesday, October 28th for a fascinating evening with Dr. Cornelia H. Dayton. Dr. Dayton will highlight New England women on the homefront whose lives were suddenly or violently disrupted and who wrote about it. Their stories help us grapple with the emotional toll exacted by political strife and war. Diaries, letters, and court records offer windows onto white and Black women’s fears and strategizing. She will also explore the ways in which courtships and marriages were tested or ended amid revolutionary discord.

Cornelia H. Dayton is the author of books such as Women Before the Bar: Gender, Law, and Society in Connecticut, 1639-1789 and Women’s America: Refocusing the Past, 7 th -10 th editions (with Linda Kerber et al.). Her research has uncovered new findings about the life and marriage of poet Phillis Wheatley Peters, as featured in the documentary by Askew Pictures, In Search of Phillis Wheatley Peters. She attended Harvard-Radcliffe and received her PhD from Princeton University. Recently retired, she taught courses on ‘vast’ early America, law in US society, women and gender, and Revolutionary Boston at the University of Connecticut.

Address

40 Palmer Street
Stonington, CT
06378

Website

http://www.historicstonington.org/

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