News and Events

Digging for Good

Metal Detecting at the Thankful Arnold House Museum

June 25, 2022

3pm to 5 pm

Join Higganum residents Rob Harlow and Curt Chadwick together with their merry band of “detectorists”, both young and old, as they investigate the museum grounds for artifacts from the past. The Digging for Good group has a passion for exploring, history and being outside. They also give back to their community by making a donation to a local charity. Their operation is simple—they will metal detect at a property owner’s request, the owner keeps all the finds and the “diggers” give back to the community by making a $75 donation to a local charity just for the opportunity to investigate. All of this is at no cost to the property owner.

On June 25 the crew will investigate areas at museum where the barn once stood and privy sites. Join us at 14 Hayden Hill Road, Haddam, CT. Free and open to the public. For more information on the Haddam Historical Society or event call 860-345-2400 or email contact@haddamhistory.org. For more information on Digging for Good visit their website at https://diggingforgood.com/.

PLEASE PARK UP FIELD PARK DRIVE

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

Connecticut's Historic Gardens Day

Connecticut’s Historic Gardens is a group of 15 distinctive historic sites and gardens dotted throughout the state that offer visitors an opportunity to explore a variety of garden styles and time periods. Each year on the fourth Sunday in June the sites are open to the public to enjoy their beauty and history and foster an appreciation for these unique and special Connecticut landmarks.

Visitors can learn about a simple Colonial- period herb gardens to elaborate Colonial Revival era gardens and enjoy a lovely afternoon in a historic setting. Each site has something special to offer the entire family.

Connecticut’s Historic Gardens (CHG) cultivates a passion for the diversity of historic gardens at distinctive historic homes in Connecticut. By partnering through shared marketing initiatives, CHG brings greater recognition and visitation to member sites, offering visitors experiences rich in beauty and history, and fostering learning.

The group consists of 15 sites throughout the state: Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden, Bethlehem; Butler-McCook House & Garden, Hartford; Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme; Glebe House Museum & The Gertrude Jekyll Garden, Woodbury; Harkness Memorial State Park, Waterford; Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford; Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington; Osborne Homestead Museum & Kellogg Environmental Center, Derby; Phelps-Hatheway House & Gardens, Suffield; Promisek at Three Rivers Farm, Bridgewater; Roseland Cottage, Woodstock; Stanley-Whitman House, Farmington, Thankful Arnold House Museum, Haddam; Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum, Wethersfield; and Weir Farm National Historic Site, Wilton. For more information about the group, individual participating sites, and events, please visit cthistoricgardens.org.

Thankful Arnold House Museum

14 Hayden Hill Road, Haddam, CT 06438

12 pm -4 pm

Visitors will learn how herbs, vegetables and plants were used by the Widow Thankful Arnold in the early 19^th century. The Wilhelmina Ann Arnold Barnhart Memorial Garden features over 50 varieties of herbs including those used in cooking, dyeing, fragrance and medicine. This year’s activity for both adults and children will be making a small grapevine wreath or painting a small birdhouse. Light refreshments will also be served including our famous rhubarb tea. For further information visit www.haddamhistory.org or call 860-345-2400. Masks recommended indoors, no masks outdoors.

Summer Program in Full Swing

Our summer program “ A Week in the Life of an Early American Child, has been very busy with the children doing chores, making butter, baking corn bread, washing, carding and spinning wool and so much more. The children are learning an early 19^th century dance and what herbs cured certain aliments while portraying a child that lived in the neighborhood in the 1830s. On Tuesday, Aunt Fanny and Farmer Bob (Cold Goats Farm in Haddam Neck) came to visit with sheep and chickens and we learned a lot about animal care. We are thrilled to be back after a two year absence.