Western Connecticut:

Fairfield & Litchfield Counties

THE ALDRICH MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

(The Aldrich Museum)

258 Main Street

Ridgefield, CT 06877

 203/438-4519

Open: Tue-Sun 12-5, Fri 12-8

Partially accessible to the disabled

Admission: Adults $5, students/seniors $2, members/children under 12 free.  Tue: Free all day

Description: The Museum is housed in an historic 18th-century building.  Built just after the Revolutionary War, it earned the nickname “Old Hundred” because it was used as a grocery store and hardware store from 1783 to 1883. It later became a residence, a house of worship and finally a contemporary art museum. The museum has over 6,000 square feet of exhibition space in nine galleries. Our two-acre sculpture garden is open to the public year-round.

Collections: Sculpture garden.

Research Access: - By written request

Programs: Sculpture Garden year-round and approximately ten exhibitions yearly. Student Docent Program, students from 30 Fairfield County schools lead their classmates around exhibitions. 

Special Events: Poetry and film events; Aldrich After-HoursConcert Series; exhibition related lecture series; Art Daze summer children’s workshop. Guided tours Sun 2 pm.

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking - Bus parking - Picnicking - Gardens - Private rental facilities

AUDUBON CENTER IN GREENWICH

613 Riversville Road

Greenwich, CT 06831 

203/869-5272

Open:  Daily 9-5

Admission: Adults $3, children/seniors $1.50, members free

Description: Nature center and 522-acre sanctuary designated a National Environmental Study Area. Collections: National Audubon Society historical photographs and slides. Teaching collection of study skins of birds, plants, and mammals.

Research Access: - By written request - Written finding aids - Hours/Day open: Tue-Sun 9-5 - On-site library/archive/research room - Fees charged: members free non-members: $3 adults,  $1.50 children, $1.50 seniors

Programs: Public walks, Hawk watch (fall), guided school class programs at Audubon Center, bird observation room/window, observation bee hive.

Facilities: - Nature store - Car parking - Bus parking - Hiking trails - Private rental facilities

THE BARNUM MUSEUM

820 Main Street

Bridgeport, CT 06604

203/331-1104

Open: Tue-Sat 10-4:30, Sun 12-4:30

Accessible to the disabled

Admission: Adults $5, seniors $3 , children 4-18 $3

Description:

Collections: Artifacts commemorating the life and times of P.T. Barnum, America’s greatest showman; history of the circus. Area dedicated to the Victorian period; birth of manufacturing in Bridgeport, CT.

Programs: School programs for all grades available; exhibit commemorating the life of P.T. Barnum and the circus. Guided tours by appointment Self-guided tours available.

Special Events: Bi-annual special exhibits in modern 7,000 square foot wing.

Facilities: - Museum shop

THE BRUCE MUSEUM

1 Museum Drive

Greenwich, CT 06830

203/869-0376

Open: Tue-Sat 10-5, Sun 1-5

Fully accessible to the disabled

Admission: Adults $3.50, seniors and children 5-12 $2.50, children under 5 free, Tue free

Description: A science and art museum featuring sixteen changing exhibits annually. It is a regional family oriented community based museum located in Bruce Park.  The Museum is located in the original Bruce home. Mr. Bruce donated the land and the house to Greenwich.

Collections: American art in all its forms. Strong collection of native Connecticut Impressionism; costumes, American decorative arts and furnishings, ethnographic collections from native North, Central and South America, science collections- extensive mineral collection; natural science, coral and animals.

Research Access: - By appointment only - On-site library/archive/research room - Written finding aides

Programs: In house classes for pre-k through adult, Bruce Mobile, which brings classes to schools, group tours.  Sixteen changing exhibits evenly split between art and science.

Special Events: Family benefit (spring), Renaissance Ball (Jun), Fall Benefit (fall)   Craft Festival (spring) and Art festival (fall) both are juried vender shows.  Guided tours, call for fees-reservations required, self-guided Walking Tree Trail and Butterfly Garden.

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking - Bus parking - Food service-limited - Picnicking - Walking trails in Bruce Park - Private rental facilities - Gardens

BUSH-HOLLEY HISTORIC SITE AND VISITOR CENTER

(The Historical Society of The Town of Greenwich)

39 Strickland Road

Cos Cob, CT 06807

203/869-6899

Open: Apr-Dec: Wed-Fri 12-4, Sat 11-4, Sun 1-4/Jan-Mar Sat 11-, Sun 1-4. Tour groups by appointment. Partially accessible to the disabled

Admission: Visitor Center and Exhibition galleries: Free Forty-five minute guided tour of Bush-Holley House: Adults $6, seniors/students with D $4, children under 12 and members free.

Description: Owned by The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, the site incorporates the National Historical Landmark Bush-Holley House, boarding house for Connecticut’s First Art Colony, a visitor center and exhibition galleries in a renovated 1805 storehouse, a mid-19th century barn and a climate-controlled archives with materials relating to Greenwich history. collections: 18th & 19th-century Connecticut antiques: household items, costumes, tools Fine early Connecticut furniture; artwork of site by leading American Impressionists including Childe Hassam, John Twachtman and Elmer Livingston MacRae. The Archives of the Historical Society, maintains the historic documents, letters, diaries, glass plate negatives and prints, maps.

Research Access: Archives open o the public: 10-4 Tue & Thu or by appointment - On-site library/archive/research room - Fees charged: copies

Programs: Children: On-going school: “Sarah Bush and Her Town” for grade 3, Hands-on program with Revolutionary War interpreter for grade 5.

Summer Holiday Week grades 2-4, Bush-Holley Crafters winter and spring, grades 3-5.

Adults: Lectures relating to history of site and on-going exhibitions Highlights tour of exhibitions and Bush -Holley House.

Special Events: Art-in-the-Yard Jun, fall festival Oct, antiques show Dec, Open House Cooking Hearth Feb.

Facilities: - Car parking  n Bus parking - Picnicking - Gardens - Visitor center

CONNECTICUT AUDUBON BIRDCRAFT MUSEUM

(Birdcraft Sanctuary)

314 Unquowa Road

Fairfield, CT 06430

203/254-0416

Open: Tue-Fri 10-5; Sat & Sun 12-5

Partially accessible to the disabled

Admission: Adults $2; children 12 and under, $1

Description: A National Historic Landmark, founded in 1914, America’s oldest private bird sanctuary. Arts and crafts-style museum of Connecticut wildlife with emphasis on birds. Changing exhibitions.

Collections: Birds and wildlife of Connecticut.

Research Access: - By written request

n On-site library/archive/research room

Programs: Guided tours, by appointment, at $4 person, self-guided walking tours available, educational programs for pre-K-6th grade in various aspects of environmental studies. Ongoing exhibits: F.T. Bedford Collection African Game Animals, dioramas, “The Four Seasons” and, “Connecticut  Habitats.”

Special Events: International Migrating Bird Day, 2nd Sat of May, 9-3.  Fall festival, mid-Oct.

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking - Bus parking - Picnicking - Private rental facilities

THE DANBURY MUSEUM & HISTORICAL SOCIETY

(Charles Ives Birthplace, Huntington Hall and John & Mary Rider House)

Mailing Address: 43 Main Street

Danbury, CT 06810

203/743-5200

Open: Tue 9-5 except Aug; Wed-Fri 2-5, Sat-Sun 2-4

Admission: Donations accepted

Description: Formed to acquire, preserve, exhibit & interpret New England’s past, and particularly the heritage of Danbury, the museum preserves the Hohn & Mary Rider House (c. 1785), the Dodd Hat Shop (C. 1790) and the Charles Ives Birthplace, along with  the modern exhibit building, Huntington Hall, which contains offices and research library.

Collections: Rider House: early 19th century furnishings, carpenters’ and joiners tools, and costumes including several early, rare everday women’s clothes. Dodd shop: hatting exhibits Library: genealogy collection

Research Access: - On-site library/archive/research room - By appointment

Facilities: - Museum shop

DARIEN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

(The Bates-Scofield House Museum)

45 Old King Highway North

Darien, CT 06820

203/655-9233

Open: House Museum: Thu & Sun 2-4 by appointment

Admission: $2.50 per person for house tour

Description: The purpose of the Society is to collect, preserve and publish genealogical, biographical and historical matter relating to the Town of Darien and its environs.  The Society owns and maintains The Bates-Scofield House, a classic New England saltbox, around 1736. The House features 18th and 19th-century furniture and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The garden adjacent to the house contains over 30 varieties of culinary, medicinal and stewing herbs known to have been used in Connecticut in the 18th-century.

Collections: Excellent collection of quilts, costumes and accessories; books, documents, maps, photographs; collection of oral histories.

Research Access: - Research Archive open Tue, Wed, Fri 9-2, Thu 9-4 - On-site library/archive/research room

Programs: Educational programs for the town’s 2nd, 3rd and 5th graders.  Ongoing exhibits featuring 18th and 19th-century furniture; and costume exhibit.  Guided tours of House Museum. Self-guided walking and driving tour of the town.

Special Events: Antiques Al fresco, annual fall antiques show

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking - Bus parking - Garden

FAIRFIELD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

636 Old Post Road

Fairfield, CT 06430

203/259-1598

Open: Tue-Sat 10-4:30, Sun 1-4:30 closed major holidays

Accessible to the disabled

Admission: Suggested donation adults $3, children $1

Description: The Museum building has an exhibit gallery, a research library, and a multi-purpose room with some exhibit space. The Ogden House, located on Bronson Road, is an 18th-century dwelling that is a historic house museum.  It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Regular hours: Sat-Sun 1-4:30, May-Oct.

Collections: The museum’s collections include clothing, textiles, objects, household furnishings, fine arts, accessories, toys and other recreational artifacts made or used in Fairfield.  The Library contains manuscripts maps and architectural drawings; photographs and glass slides document past century; family papers number more than 100 collections. Archaeological collections consist of objects and stone tools found in this area; oral histories cover past 30 years.

Research Access: - By written request - Computer database - On-site library/archive/research room - Written finding aids - Fees Charged: for genealogy written request

Programs: School programs for 2nd graders: Sheep to Shawl; 4th graders: Ogden House program; school Kit: Patterns of Life, Fabric of Change; walking tours. Ongoing exhibit of Fairfield County history; changing exhibits:Guided tours and walking tours: Black Rock area, Tunxis Hill, Old Post Road, Southport. Driving tours of Cameron Clark architecture; agricultural bike tour; and Fairfield bike tour. Guided tours.

Special Events: House Restoration Show (Apr), Fall Festival (Oct), Volunteer reception and Volunteer training.

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking - Bus parking - Gardens at Ogden House

GLEBE HOUSE MUSEUM & GERTRUDE JEKYLL GARDEN

Hollow Road

Woodbury, CT 06798

Mailing Address: PO Box 245

Woodbury, CT 06798

203/263-2855

Open: Apr-Nov Wed-Sun 1-4; and by appointment

Partially accessible to the disabled

Admission  Adults $4, children $2

Description: The Glebe House Museum and Gertrude Jekyll Garden is a seventy-year-old institution dedicated to preserving the 1750 gambrel saltbox house in which the Episcopal Church was founded in 1783.  The grounds conserve the only design in America by English garden designer Gertrude Jekyll.  The house is Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Archive of materials relating to early history of town and Episcopal Church.

Collections: Furnishings and decorative objects relating to the life of the first Anglican priest in Woodbury, John Rutgers Marshall, and his family, servants, and parishioners. 300-book library of rare books, documents, and photographs of the house and Marshall family.

Research Access: - Research Archive open Mon-Fri 10-4 - By written request - By appointment only - Fees charged for staff research - On-site library/archive/research room

Programs: Traveling and site programs for children, summer History Camp.  Small changing exhibits. Tours by docents for adults and children.  Tour operators welcome. Special tours of house or garden available.

Special Events: Spring Restoration Show; Fall Colonial Fair; Spring Garden

Symposium, Summer Garden Tour with Royal Oak Foundation series of Garden Lectures. House exhibit changes with season. Christmas events.

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking - Bus parking - Picnicking - Private rental facilities - Gardens

THE INSTITUTE FOR AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES

(IAIS)

38 Curtis Road

Off Route 199

Washington, CT 06793

Mailing Address: PO Box 1260

Washington, CT 06793

860/868-0518

Open: Apr-Dec, Mon-Sat  10-5; Wed-Sat, Jan-Mar, 10-5 &  all year 12-5.

Accessible to the disabled

Admission: Adults $4, seniors $3.50, children 6-16 $2,

Description: A private, non-profit museum of Northeastern Woodland Indian artifacts with permanent exhibit hall, indoor long house exhibit with life-size wall mural depicting pre-contact period, outdoor Algonkian Village, changing temporary exhibits of Native American art from all of the Americas, monthly herbaria displays and outdoor trails for hiking.

Collections: Lithic, ethnographic artifacts of Eastern Woodlands Indian cultures; archaeological artifacts, oral histories, films and videos.

Research Access: - By written request - By appointment only - On-site library/archive/research room

Programs: Field trip programs by appointment for school groups. Permanent exhibits: As We Tell Our Stories and replicatedIndoor Long house Exhibit & Mural. Guided tours by appointment only. Self-guided walking tours.

Special Events: Call for special events

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking - Bus parking - Hiking trails - Gardens (seasonal) - Private rental facilities - Picnic benches

KEELER TAVERN MUSEUM

(Keeler Tavern Preservation Society)

132 Main Street

Ridgefield, CT 06877

Mailing Address: PO Box 204

Ridgefield, CT 06877

203/438-5485 + 203/431-0815

Open: Office Hours: Mon-Fri 10-2 Tours Wed, Sat, Sun 1-4

First floor partially accessible to the disabled

Admission: Adults $4, seniors $2, students under 12 $1

Description: On the National Register of Historic Places this 18th-century stagecoach inn served as a rallying place for patriots in the Revolutionary War. There is still a cannon ball, from a British attack in 1777, imbedded in the wall. Architect Cass Gilbert bought the property, and built a garden house, walled garden and barn on the property in 1915.

Collections: 18th and 19th-century furnishings, household items and costumes, tools; town of Ridgefield history: books, documents, letters, glass plate negatives and prints.

Research Access: - By written request - By appointment only - Computer database - On-site library/archive/research room

Programs: Serves all of Ridgefield; 4th grade students with free tour of Museum; other schools minimum charge per student.  Changing exhibits throughout the year.  Guided tours given by costumed docents.

Special Events: Chamber music concert series Oct & Nov, Mar & Apr In Garden House. Outdoor Living History Day, bi-annually in May. Annual Christmas luncheon second week of Dec.

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking - Gardens - Private rental facilities

LITCHFIELD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

(Tapping Reeve House & Law School)

7 South Street

Litchfield, CT 06759

Mailing Address: PO Box 385

Litchfield, CT 06759

860/567-4501

Open: Museum Hours: Mid Apr-Nov Tue-Sat 11-5, Sun 1-5

Library Hours: Year Round Tue-Fri 10-12, 1-4; 1st Sat of month 10-12, 1-4

Office Hours: Year Round Mon-Fri 9-5

Admission: Tapping Reeve House and Museum: Adults $5, seniors & students 12 & above $3, children under 12 free

Description: The Tapping Reeve House, site of the first law school in the United States, is a National Historic Landmark. Both house and museum are in a National Historic Landmark District.  The Museum contains five galleries of Litchfield history.  One major changing exhibition each year.

Collections: Paintings, furniture, decorative arts, textiles; newspapers

correspondence, account books, diaries, journals.  Litchfield

Female Academy Collection: Letters, diaries, journals,

watercolors, needlework from 1792-1833; Law School law notebooks, correspondence from Litchfield Law School, 1780-1835.

Research Access: -  By written request -  On-site library/archive/research room n   Written finding aids

Programs: Museum guided tours by appointment, walking tours and Tapping Reeve House tours. The House features a new exhibition “The Noblest Study.”  The Legacy of America’s first school of law. Programs for elementary, middle and high school students, on-site and in school.  Permanent  exhibits interpret the history of Litchfield.  Interactive activities and orientation video at Tapping Reeve House.

Special Events: Summer children’s series-Wed in Jul; Borough Days-1st Sun after Labor Day.

Facilities: - Museum shop - Picnicking - Gardens

LOCKWOOD MATHEWS MANSION MUSEUM

295 West Avenue

Norwalk, CT 06850

203/838-1434

Open:Tue-Fri 11-3, Sun 1-4, tours on the hour, last tour one hour before closing; Sat 1-4 seasonal

Partially accessible to the disabled

Admission: Adults $5, children $3, under 12 free

Description: 1868 Victorian mansion built as a summer home for railroad builder and investment banker LeGrand Lockwood. 62-room, palatial residence, architectural interiors by Herter Brothers and other Victorian designers.

Collections: Furnishings, paintings, decorative arts of Lockwood and Mathews family.

Research Access: - By written request - By appointment only

Programs: Discovery program-art and architecture of the mansion.

Special Events: Award Antiques Show, last weekend in (Oct). Victorian Ice Cream Social (mid Jul), Community Holiday Party (mid Dec). Hourly guided tours during the week. Self-guided tours on the weekends.

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking            n Rental facilities - Picnicking

THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK

10 North Water Street

Norwalk, CT 06854

203/852-0700

Open: Open every day, except Thanksgiving and Christmas, summer

10-6, other times 10-5.

Accessible to the disabled

Admission: call

Description: The Maritime Aquarium is located in a restored 19th-century foundry that over looks the waterfront of the harbor, near the heart of the historic ostering community of south Norwalk.

Collections: 125 species living in re-creations of their own natural Long Island Sound habitats.

Programs: Programs are scheduled every hour on the hour beginning at 9:00 For preschool grades: “A House for Hermit Crab IBIS,” “River Otters,” “Salt Marsh,” “Sensing the Animals.” For grades 3-5: “Between the Tides,” Digging for Dinosaurs.”  “Coral Reefs,” “Behind-the-Sciences tour.”  Field programs: “A Visit to the Seashore,” “Coastal Exploration,” “Dock Station,” “Marine Life Study Cruise.” Guided, self-guided, audio walking tours and special tours are available for the visually impaired.

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking - Bus parking - Food service - Lunch room - Aquarium - Private rental facilities - IMAX Theater

NEW CANAAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

13 Oenoke Ridge (Route 124)

New Canaan, CT 06840 

203/966-1776

Open: Tue- Sat 9:30-12:30 and 2:00-4:30. 

Partially accessible to the disabled

Admission: Donations requested; call for group fees

Description: The Society was founded in 1889, and consists of five buildings housing seven museums and a library.   Museums include The Town House (1825), Costume Museum, Cody Drug Store, Hanford-Silliman House (1764), Tool Museum, New Canaan Hand Press, John Rogers Studio & Museum(1878) and Rock School (1799).

Collections: Antique dolls; furniture; pewter, 19th-century printing press and print type, textiles including quilts, samplers, bedding and clothing.  Deeds; letters; town newspapers back to 1868 on microfilm; genealogies; family collections; digital imaged photographs; photograph albums; recent photographs in vertical files.  Oral histories; videos; town records; architectural drawings; real estate field cards; collection of over 3,500 volumes pertaining to history, collecting, preservation.

Research Access: - By written request - On-site library/archive/research room - Fees charged: donation requested for more than ½ hour of librarian’s time.

Programs: Walking map of historic district and information available; fall and spring programs for elementary and middle school grades; special tours by request, museum exhibits; docent-led tours of ongoing exhibits: permanent museum collections and changing costume and special exhibits in Town House.

Special Events: Four quarterly meetings with selected presenters; open to public; seminars and lectures.   “Old-Fashioned Ice Cream” Jun; “Dickens’ Day Dec; Members’ Valentine Tea.

SHARON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

(Gay-Hoyt House Museum)

18 Main Street

Sharon, CT 06069

Mailing Address: PO Box 511

Sharon, CT 06069

860/364-5688

Open: Mid Jun-mid Oct,  Fri-Sun 12-5

Mid Oct-early Jun, Tue 2-5, Wed-Fri 9-12

Not accessible to the disabled

Admission: None

Description: 1775 brick colonial house on The National Register of Historic Places. Period rooms; furniture, art and decorative arts collection.  Changing exhibits and Hands-On-History Room for children ages 3-12.

Collections: Genealogical, archives, furniture, art, decorative arts, clothing and textiles.

Research Access: - By written request - By appointment only - Written finding aids

Programs: Keeping Cozy In Colonial CT, 2nd-5th graders; “Our Town”, 2nd-7th grades.

Special Events: Sharon Heritage Festival, (3rd Sat in Jun). Walking tour of Sharon Green in brochure format.

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking

THE STAMFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

(Hoyt-Barnum House Museum)

1508 High Ridge Road

Stamford, CT 06903

 203/329-1183

Open: Tue-Sun 12-4

Description: Museum features changing exhibits of Stamford and Connecticut history. Hoyt-Barnum House, built in 1699, features authentic furnishings.

Collections: Textiles, tools, antique Americana on display.

Research Access: - On-site library/archive/research room

n Hours/Days open: Tue-Sat

STAMFORD MUSEUM & NATURE CENTER

39 Scofieldtown Road

Stamford, CT 06903

203/322-1646

Open: Stamford Museum:  Mon-Sat & holidays 9-5, Sun 1-5, closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s

Planetarium shows 3:00

Nature Trails: Daily 9-5

Admission: Stamford residents: adults $3, 5-13 & seniors $2, free Wed., Children under 5 free

Non-residents: Adults $5, 5-13 & seniors $4

Description: 118-acre area includes a small New England farm with animals. Planetarium shows.

Programs: Permanent Farmers’ Tool Exhibit & Country Store.  Changing exhibits on art, natural history and Americana.

Special Events: Folk concerts.

Facilities: - Picnicking - Galleries - Nature trails

TARRYWILE PARK AND MANSION

70 Southern Boulevard

Danbury, CT 06810

203/744-3130

Open: Mansion: Mon-Fri 8:30-4:30

First floor accessible to the disabled

Second floor is not accessible to the disabled

Admission: None

Description: Municipally owned 535-acre park. Two buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: Tarrywile Mansion and Hearthstone Castle both built in 1897. The Mansion serves as a community center for the city of Danbury. Castle not open to the public at this time.

Collections: Small collection of photographs from previous owners, and written history.

Research Access: - Hours/Days open: Mon-Fri 8:30-4:30 - By written request - By appointment only

Programs: Both guided tours and self-guided tours are available. Call for mansion availability. Hiking trails are self-guided.

Special Events: National Trails Day: 1st Sat in Jun, winter trails and snowshoe romp Jan.

Facilities: - Car parking - Picnicking - Hiking trails - Gardens - Private rental facilities

WEIR FARM NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

735 Nod Hill Road

Wilton, CT 06897

203/834-1896

Open: Year round: Visitor Center Wed-Sun 8:30-5:00

Grounds: Daily, dawn-dusk

Not accessible to the disabled

Admission: None

Description: Weir Farm National Historic Site preserves 60 acres and 12 historic structures associated with Julian Alden Weir and the American Impressionist movement, under the direction of the National Park Service and the Weir Farm Trust. The Branchville Farm was summer home and retreat to Weir for 37 years and subject of many his paintings as well as works by Childe Hasssam, Albert P. Ryder and John Twachtman. In later years the farm was also home to the sculptor Mahonri Young.

Collections: Weir Farm has an extensive archival collection, historic furnishings and decorative arts objects, and a smaller collection of artwork. The site also maintains historic and current photograph collections.  Some limited site archaeological material exists, oral histories, some film and video, and clippings collection dating from the sites opening.

Research Access: - By written request  - By appointment only - Written finding aids - Fees charged: where appropriate

Programs: Guided studio tours Wed-Sat, guided landscape tours Sat and Sun, call for tour times. Self-guided Historic Painting Sites Trail Guide, $2.00.  Art workshops, special educational programming as requested.  Teaching aids, including Art Cards and Teaching Guide. Exhibit of historic photographs in the Burlingham House V.C.

Special Events:   Summer art classes, National Park Service Junior Ranger Program, Weir Farm Trust Visiting Artist Program. The Holiday Open House (Dec), allows visitors access to all Weir Farm Historic Site structures.

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking - Picnicking - Hiking trails - Gardens

WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART AT CHAMPION

One Champion Plaza

Atlantic Street & Tresser Boulevard

Stamford, CT 06921

203/358-7630

Open: Tue-Sat, 11-5

Accessible to the disabled

Admission: None

Description: The Connecticut branch of the renowned Whitney Museum  of American Art in New York.  The gallery space features changing exhibitions of American Art primarily of the 20th- century and frequently includes works from the Permanent Collection of the Whitney Museum.  Past exhibitions have featured work by Edward Hopper, Alexander Calder, and Georgia O’Keeffe.

Collections: 20th century American Art.

Programs: Guided gallery talks, Tue, Thu & Sat at 12:30, no appointment necessary. Free docent tours for school groups, by appointment. Approximately 5 exhibitions per year, with special events held in conjunction with each exhibition.

Facilities:  - Car parking - Museum shop

WILTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

(Wilton Heritage Museum)

249 Danbury Road

Wilton, CT 06897

203/762-7257

Open: Tue, Wed, Thu 10-4, Sun 1-4 (selected)

Partially accessible to the disabled

Admission: Adults $2, seniors $1, children & members free

Description: The Wilton Historical Society owns and operates 9 historic buildings. Two are open to the public, the other 7 are an award-winning example of adaptive use for historic preservation.  The Raymond-Fitch House is a 1757 classic central chimney colonial house with furnished period rooms. The Betts-Sturges-Blackmar house, circa 1740, is the newest addition to the Society’s holding. Currently used for temporary exhibitions, it will feature period rooms illustrating life in Wilton from the 18th through the early 20th-century.

Collections: 18th and first half 19th-century American decorative arts; 18th and early 19th-century American furniture, ceramics, paintings; 18th-20th century costumes and textiles; 19th  and 20th-century dolls, doll houses, toys, games. Photograph collections, accounting books, business and personal records of Wilton housed in the Wilton Library for greater public access.

Research Access: - By written request - By appointment only - Computer database

Programs: Guided tours of period rooms, lectures and workshops for all age groups, changing temporary and traveling exhibits.   For school groups, guided tours of life in Wilton 200 years ago.

Special Events: Nationally acclaimed antiques show in (Mar), crafts show in (Nov) fund the Museum.

Facilities: - Museum shop - Car parking - Picnicking - Gardens