History Happy Hour: Ironwoods Preserve

Ironwoods Preserve | History Happy Hour

Date: Friday, April 17
Time: 6 pm to 7 pm
Location: 853 Boston Post Road, Madison, CT 06443
Presenter: Charlie Shafer
Suggested Donation: $15 Adults / $10 MHS Members.

Registration is requested. Click here to register!

On April 17, Charlie Shafer will present “Ironwoods Preserve.” Charlie has been restoring old houses professionally for 40 years and has been an avid hiker for far longer. He has always combined his love for history and his love for the outdoors by exploring the nooks and crannies of life and industry, in the old mines and abandoned towns of the mountains of Colorado and in New England on its old roads and in its historic structures. He has a special interest in the area’s collier fireplaces, which he has started to document photographically in Madison and the surrounding towns. He also enjoys documenting assorted remnants he finds in the woods, left by older farmers and residents.

The Ironwoods Preserve is one of the Madison Land Conservation Trust’s more interesting properties, as it was in heavy use from the time North Guilford (once known as Bristol) became a specific place as opposed to a loose band of settlers. Initially used as farmland for grazing, by the late 1780s it was the site of a sawmill, then an ironworks, and then a site for extensive charcoal production, before returning to use for livestock grazing. Eventually, after farming died out, it returned to open space, eventually ending up in the stewardship of the Land Trust. At the History Happy Hour, we will take a virtual walk from the top of the ironworks down to Greist Pond, with plenty of interesting history to discover along the way.