The Historical Society will hold its 7th annual House & Garden Tag Sale on August 29 through 31 at 138 Main Street in Farmington.

Table for sale at 2008 House & Garden Tag Sale.

For the sale, we will accept donations of antiques, collectibles, furniture, small appliances, jewelry, toys and games, and household Items. Potted perennial plants are welcome also. We cannot accept clothes, shoes or books, except gardening books.

Donation days at society headquarters, 138 Main, are August 26, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m.; and August 27 and 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All items must be complete and usable. For more information please call Peg Yung at 677-2754.

The annual Scarecrow Contest and Fall Festival will be held October 19 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Old Stone Schoolhouse. Admission is free.

The Old Stone Schoolhouse, Coppermine Road.
Photo by Brooke Martin.

The event will include awards for the scariest, most stylish, rottenest and happiest scarecrows; colonial games; bobbing for doughnut holes; refreshments such as popcorn, cookies, cupcakes and cider; paper pumpkin painting; prizes of real pumpkins; ghost making; face-painting; and a storytelling Halloween witch.

"Wanda the Witch." Bobbing for doughnuts,
Scarecrow Contest and Fall Festival, 2006

The Old Stone Schoolhouse, owned by the Farmington Historical Society, was a schoolhouse  from 1790 to 1872. From 1875 to 1956, it was used as a chapel and community center.

The Historical Society's annual meeting was held June 8 at the Barney Library. Jay Johnston, executive director of the Farmington Libraries, discussed the Barney Library renovation project during the meeting.

Barney Library, 71 Main Street.
Photo by Brooke Martin.

The Barney Library, a neoclassical building with four columns supporting a grand pediment, cornice and frieze, was built in 1918. The planned renovations include adding an elevator and new interior stairway and removing the antiquated exterior fire escape. The project is designed to improve access for wheelchair users, elderly people, mothers with strollers, and those who are physically challenged.

An exhibit of nineteenth-century clothing and linens was held in June. The Gridley-Case cottage came alive with items from the 1800s. A table was set in the dining room overlooking the restored garden; several pieces of period furniture filled the parlor; the small bedroom held a youngster’s bed and children’s items; and the kitchen contained a variety of household goods, from laundry products and tools to a display of hats and capes. Mannequins dressed in period clothing were arranged throughout the cottage.

 
Nineteenth-century dress, 138 Main Street.
Photo by Brooke Martin.

The exhibit committee included: Wendy Burki, Jean Pickens, Lois Wadsworth and Peg Yung.

The Historical Society held its annual New Year's Gala January 6 at the society's headquarters, 138 Main Street.

138 Main Street

The gathering featured a discussion of three books on the history of the town. Betty Coykendall, a former president of the Historical Society, spoke about the publication in 1982 of Farmington In Connecticut, by Christopher P. Bickford. Ann Arcari, current president of the society, discussed the "Green Book," Farmington In Connecticut, The Village of Beautiful Homes, published in 1906; and Speaking for Ourselves -- African American Life in Farmington, CT, by Barbara Donohue and the Farmington Historical Society Research Team.

Ann Arcari, president of the Historical Society

The historical society and the Farmington Library presented a program on the Farmington Canal February 15, 2007, at the Farmington Public Library. Dr. Carl Walter, a canal historian, and Ruth Hummel, of the Plainville Historic Center, spoke about the engineering aspects of the canal, the people who created and ran it, and life along the canal.

The Farmington Canal

Construction on the canal, which was inspired by the Erie Canal, began in 1825, and by the 1830s it was the state's "superhighway" for trade between New Haven and central Connecticut. Within two decades, however, the canal was put out of business by the railroads.

Parts of the canal, its towpath and boat basin, as well as stone supports for an aqueduct across the Farmington River, can still be seen in town.

Farmington Canal towpath

Letters concerning the Amistad Africans, written in 1841, can now be viewed at the Farmington Library's Web site. Ann Arcari, president of the Historical Society, and other members of the society transcribed the letters, which include one written by Cinque, the leader of the Mendians.

Cinque, by Nathaniel Jocelyn, 1839

The letters shed light on the lives of the Africans when they lived in Farmington from March to November of 1841 and on the thoughts of the abolitionists who helped them win their freedom.