Welcome to the East Haddam Historical Society & Museum, illuminating local history since 1962!
Museum is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please contact us via email or phone 860-873-3944 with any questions.
Please enjoy the new Saving Land, Saving History mini-documentaries online!
Please enjoy the new Saving Land, Saving History mini-documentaries online!
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50 years of Local History
The East Haddam Historical Society, founded over 50 years ago, has been at this Town Street location for 11 years; it's just around the corner from Gillette Castle, right on the Route 82 corridor. The museum has a fine collection of local and Lower Connecticut River Valley historical objects, and prides itself on its kid-friendliness.
Among the highlights of the museum are a photographic display of the rise and fall of the Industrial Age in Moodus Village, Native American artifacts dating to 1300 B.C., a photographic exhibit of the building of the East Haddam swing bridge, and a collection of changing fashions with period costumes on display. Museum is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please contact us via email or phone 860-873-3944 with any questions. 
Swing Bridge Video!See the East Haddam Swing Bridge documentary that Kristie Kaminski, Valley Shore Community Television, published in October 2018. Historic photos; community members talk about our wonderful bridge!
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Saving Land, Saving HistoryWe are excited to announce the launch of our documentary series, SAVING LAND, SAVING HISTORY! If you love to hike the open space preserves or just want to know more about the history and nature of your town then you won’t want to miss these beautiful and informative films.
The "Saving Land, Saving History" display highlights the fascinating ties between the preservation of land and local history and commemorates the East Haddam Land Trust's 40 years of land conservation. Award-winning local producer/director Ken Simon draws on the knowledge of local historians and conservationists to enliven the history of three historical preserves, the history of the East Haddam Land Trust, and the history of the East Haddam Historical Society & Museum. The East Haddam Historical Society will be presenting a multi-media exhibit on “Saving Land, Saving History” at the Museum that will be available when the museum re-opens to the public. The “Saving Land, Saving History” project is a collaboration between the East Haddam Historical Society and the East Haddam Land Trust, supported by generous grants from Connecticut Humanities and the Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Watershed Coordinating Committee. Chapal Farm/Patrell Preserve
The Chapal Farm/Patrell Preserve is comprised of 109 acres of unspoiled beauty along the historic Eight-Mile River, a nationally recognized Wild and Scenic Waterway, and is renowned for its diversity of geologic sites and wildlife. Incorporating the Richard H. Goodwin trail, a 14-mile long hiking trail through East Haddam and East Lyme, the Chapal Farm/Patrell Preserve encompass ancient lands essential to preserving the lower Connecticut River estuary. Hammond Hill Preserve
At the 12-acre Hammond Hill Preserve off Dolbia Hill Road West in East Haddam, you can touch remnants of a built-by-hand dam and stroll along the headrace that directed water from the Eightmile River to two former mill sites. Careful placement of boulders and stones dammed the flow of the Eightmile River to power mills 150-200 years ago. Imagine workers trudging each boulder and stone to the dam site that once powered a grist mill, a sawmill, a fulling mill, a blacksmith shop, and a flaxseed oil press into the early 1800s. Early in the 1900s, Edward C. Hammond took over and refurbished the dam and millpond and used the site as a Boy Scout survival skills training camp. While hiking here you can see the remnants of the mills and imagine their long history. Today the Preserve protects plant and animal life as part of the federally designated Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Watershed, one of only two such watersheds in Connecticut. Videos will also be added to our Saving Land, Saving History page as they are released. Videos will be released every two weeks.
2020 Upcoming Events
The health of our community is our primary concern. As part of the effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, we have made the difficult decision to postpone or cancel programs as necessary. Please monitor the schedule posted below. Contact us with any questions at museum@easthaddamhistory.org or 860-873-3944.
All events will take place at the Museum unless otherwise stated. Events are open to the public and free to members and children under twelve, except as noted. Donations from non-members is $5 for regular events. Upcoming events are listed below, or open our Calendar of Events. Pysanky Eggs WorkshopPOSTPONED TO JULYOriginally scheduled for Sunday, March 29, 2020, with two separate sessions 10am to noon and 1pm-3pm, this event will be rescheduled in July.
Learn how to make beautifully decorated Ukrainian eggs. Pysanky is an art form celebrated all over Eastern Europe at this time of year.
Artist Sharon Leonard will guide you through the process of planning a design, dyeing and waxing multiple times, and polishing the wax-resist jewel-like egg.
Stylus, wax candles, colored dyes, and eggs will all be provided for you. East Haddam Historical Society & Museum has hosted this workshop several times. Because of the popularity of the workshop over the years, we will have two sessions, one from 10-12 and the other from 1-3 pm. For those of you who have attended, we'd love to see you make another amazing creation. For those who have never been, please join us for a workshop that will give you the ability to make these every year. Your creations will, of course, go home with you. Please pre-register early. Call 860-852-5722. Workshop spaces are limited. All profits will help EHHS. Place: The East Haddam Historical Society & Museum 264 Town Street (Route 82) East Haddam, CT 06423 Cost: $25.00 per person Ages 8-Adult "An Afternoon of Native American Activities" with Larry Spotted Crow Mann (Nipmuk/Algonquin)
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