New historic trail tells 250 years of New Canaan history
NEW CANAAN — New paths winding around the antique buildings on the campus of the New Canaan Museum and Historical Society are now open and set to tell 250 years of the town’s history.
Over the summer, sidewalks were constructed around the campus and recently five placards were installed to share the details of the Cody Drug store, the Silliman House, the Tool Museum, John Rogers’ Studio and other parts of the town’s past.
The trail also includes new terraces and sitting areas. “The new spaces offer visitors a way to explore and learn about the town in an unstructured, safe environment,” according to the historical society’s website.
The trail was completed in time for October4design, a monthlong celebration of art, design and architecture, which is expected to draw visitors from around the country to celebrate local cultural offerings.
The first public school in town was built in 1799, two years before the town was incorporated. The school faced demolition in 1973, but the local school children raised funds to move the structure to the historical society’s campus.
“The students from every grade in the district organized bake sales, car washes, walkathons and auctions,” the sign reads. A picture shows students walking beside the building being hauled behind a truck to the campus. Students were educated in the school until 1931.
The Handford-Silliman House was built between 1761 and 1764 and purchased by the historical society in 1957, ensuring it stayed in situ facing 13 Oenoke Ridge. The home, with features of Georgian architecture, houses the society’s collection of samplers, or embroidery, made “by well-to-do young ladies to demonstrate their needlework skills,” the sign reads. The house was in the Silliman family for over 126 years.
John Rogers’ Studio, where the popular artist who sold 86,000 copies of this nearly 90 group sculptures, worked, was acquired in 1964. Rodgers worked in New York City and retired in town in 1893. The studio was moved 300 feet to the historical society’s campus in 1966 and received National Historic Landmark designation the same year. Rogers’ home, part of a matching set, was torn down in 1960.
The contents of the Cody drugstore, which had been on Main Street from 1845 to 1965, were donated to the historical society by the Cody family and are located in the main building. A picture from 1928 photo shows the soda fountain for what was originally considered a health drink, “which is why pharmacies invested in it,” the sign says.
Local businessmen financed the construction of a railroad spur connecting New Canaan to Stamford in 1866, which is just one of the facts shared about local history. A placard shows the Benedict’s Shoe Shop, one of several shoe factories, representing an industry that dominated the town’s economy from 1768 through the Civil War.
The rarest item in the tool museum is the Smith-Hoe Acorn hand press, that was used to print the New Canaan Advertiser. The museum also has antique carpentry, icemaking, shoemaking and blacksmithing tools.