The town of New Canaan, incorporated in 1801, built its first Town House in 1825. We had a genealogy seminar here last spring and people sitting near each other began to talk and found out they were related to each other. When you work at it, a lot of history comes together, but you can spend a great deal of time on a missing link and false starts, because not everything you need is there. Self-sustaining with funding coming only through memberships and donations, the Historical Society Museum is open 2 to 4 on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and offers Saturday workshops for children and adults throughout the year. Two annual functions, an ice cream social the second Sunday in June and an open house with crafts and demonstrations the first Saturday in December, are open to the public in addition to tours of up to 40 with hours changing seasonally.
Admission is free for both events and tours, but a donation is requested.
Quarterly meetings for members are held in September, December, March and June. A recent expansion of the Town House includes an archives room, vault, and conference room designed by New Canaan architect Richard Bergmann. Costume exhibits have been condensed for the next two months while an elevator is being installed in the Town House to make the building handicap accessible. When the Town House was in danger of being torn down, it was a New Canaan school teacher who activated school students to help raise money to save it. One unusual donation to the Society was a ceramic hot water bottle which was made in New Canaan.