Celebrate Connecticut Open House Day in New London County 2024

"Peace in Nature" reflects the Sky, the Sea and the Land. As individuals, we see and experience the light and the leaves, the water and the sky through our own two eyes. As a group of artists, we combine to bring a new depth to our art. Just as beauty exists in conjunction with its surroundings, we find peace in the complexity of nature.

Artreach's Jazz Band will also play.

Special summer exhibits and free guided tours.
Meet a Revolutionary War soldier.
Vintage Paper Moon photo booth.
For children, a fairy garden and old-fashioned games on the lawn.

The Colchester History Museum offers exhibits about lesser-known stories including Colchester's School for Colored Children, the Bulkeley Family's escape from England, the demise of the Hayward Rubber Company, the important role of General Henry Champion in the Revolutionary War and much more. Be sure to visit the Colchester History Museum.

Join us at RTP Estuary Center for free activities all day long. Begin your day with a bird walk on our sanctuary from 9-10am. Each participant will receive a free birding checklist. From 10:30-3pm, explore the sanctuary, enjoy our new story walk, and join an insect hunt. From 12-3pm, visit our building featuring original Roger Tory Peterson prints and sketches.

New London's Custom House Maritime Museum welcomes you  to discover the stories of our local waterfront that still shape the region today. You'll see inspiring exhibitions on the Amistad incident, area lighthouses, fisherman/artist Ellery Thompson, and vintage dive gear. This June Christian Fiedler's time-lapse pinhole images of New England lighthouses are on view

The Dr. Lathrop Schoolhouse will be free and open to the public on June 8 from 11AM until 3PM. On June 8, we also will have a reenactor portraying a late-18th century schoolmaster.

Built in 1783, the newly updated educational space features hands-on activities for children and informational panels about the history of Norwich. 

Visit the FloGris Museum for free from 10am to 5pm! Offerings include gardens and a walking trail, historic Griswold House and artist's studio, and the special exhibition, "Impressionism 150: From Paris to Connecticut & Beyond." The consistent recipient of a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence, the Museum has been called a "Giverny in Connecticut" by the Wall Street Journal, and a "must-see" by the Boston Globe.

We will be having free tours to the public from 12-4. The Governor was the only colonial Governor to support the fight for Independence. His son, John, who was born in this house was the "Painter of the Revolution". New research on the home, the Trumbull family, and the enslaved people that lived there is incorporated in the house tour.

Groton Congregational Church is a unique fieldstone building, built in 1902. Over half its interior is made of hand-rubbed and polished oak. It still has the original chandeliers. The church was  designed by well-known local architects Donnelly & Hazeltine. It contains a Tiffany stained glass window of the Good Shepherd, a magnificent four-panelled, stained glass window of the "Parable of the Talents" by Edward Peck Sperry, and a Moller organ with 1,381 pipes, purchased in 1963. A guidebook is provided to visitors.

Enjoy a FREE self guided tour of the Joseph Carpenter Silversmith Shop, June 8, 11am-3pm. Learn about life on the Green from Kesia Cleveland Jones who lived there.

Enjoy a FREE self-guided tour of the main floor of the Leffingwell House Museum.See the annual display of historic flags and visit with Brown's Company of Artillery!

The Lyman Allyn is pleased to offer FREE ADMISSION to all on CT Open House Day. Family centric exploration guides are free to pick up to help young learners enjoy the Museum.

Nathan Liverant and Son offers an Invitation to Learn Antiques and Americana Public Forum, Saturday, June 8, 2-4 pm.  The forum topic is American Folk Art using examples of New England and Connecticut objects.  Attendees are encouraged to ask question and to examine the Folk Art on display.  Refreshments, including local Cato Corner Farm cheese, will be served.

Come have some learning fun and play by the bay! Enjoy $2 off admission per person (adults and children 12 months and up) with proof of Connecticut residency. Last admission at 4pm. No registration necessary.

Please join us on June 8th between 11 and 3 for a free tour of our facility. Gently used books on a variety of historical subjects will be available at discount prices.

The Old Mystic History Center holds a robust collection of books, transcriptions, photographs, and original manuscripts on historical New London County people, places, and events.

As part of Connecticut Open House Day, the Mystic River Historical Society will hold an open house at the Portersville Academy from 1pm to 4pm on June 8.  There will be a display featuring photographs from the construction of Baptist Hill in 1924. There will also be displays of items from past schoolhouse days, antique tools, and various vintage household items, as well as photograph displays of the Academy and the Liberty Pole.

Sail the historic waters of New London aboard the classic ocean cruiser Tall Tales; reserved for your party of two to six persons. Take the helm, work with the crew or kick back and relax.

June 8: Free Tall Tales souvenir for all (even kids and pets).

www.marinepro.net
tel. 917/405-5044

Slater Memorial Museum is happy to offer free admission to the museum from 10am-4pm. Visitors are invited to join free Docent Tours at 11am and 2pm. Additionally, family-friendly activities including eye spies, a code-breaker challenge, and sketching in the galleries will be available.

Learn the art of printmaking from owner artist Mara Beckwith.

Enjoy watching the process and learning how to make prints and what art materials are needed.
 

Thames River Heritage Park is offering Hop On, Hop Off Harbor Cruises to celebrate CT Open House Day. The water taxi has three departure locations between New London and Groton connecting heritage sites across the Thames River. Use the promotion code on the parks website for your discounted ride! Operating from 11am-6pm.

Come on and feel the ROOOOAR! The Dinosaur Place, the largest dinosaur theme park in New England, invites families to visit for CT Open House day on June 8th. Get a FREE admission for your next visit! This FREE admission can be used to visit the park from June 9th to July 14th, 2024 - Mondays through Thursdays. Explore nature trails with dinosaurs, playgrounds, the maze and more!

The James Merrill House is a writer's home and a home for writers. Named a National Historic Landmark in 2016, the building at 107 Water Street is as charming and quirky as Merrill left it at the time of his passing in 1995, the same year his third floor apartment and fourth floor studio became home to an internationally renowned writer-in-residence program. Come tour Merrill's quirky, color-drenched apartment in the picturesque Stonington Borough, which has hosted 125 authors to date. Tours will be offered from 11am to 3pm.

Thames River Heritage Park is celebrating CT Open House Day on Saturday, June 8 with the start of the Hop On, Hop Off Harbor Cruise season. Folks can purchase an All-Day Pass for $5 (children under 3 ride for free) where riders can jump to different heritage sites along the river. Use the promo code 2024CTOHD for your discount.

Located in the Village of Niantic, the circa 1660 Thomas Lee House and the 1803 Little Boston School will be open for free tours. In the barn are displays of early East Lyme including a mail wagon and a fire wagon.  The house will offer a scavenger hunt for children.

The building is a Palladium-style Stable repurposed as a casual museum.  Exhibits include a weaving display, five sidesaddles, antique sleigh, and Wadsworth family lore.  Children are encouraged to come and take a selfie with a stand-in for Nelson, George Washington's horse.