Historic Stonington

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Historic Stonington

Historic Stonington was founded in 1895. The Capt. Palmer House & the Lighthouse Museum are currently open daily from 10am to 4pm. The Richard W.

The Woolworth Library is open Monday 1pm to 5pm, Wednesday 9am to 5pm and Friday 1pm to 5pm. The mission of the Stonington Historical Society is to preserve, interpret, and celebrate the history of all of Stonington. Our Society is dedicated to illuminating the more than 350 years of history of the Town of Stonington, located in the southeastern corner of Connecticut. We offer here records of the

lives and fortunes of colonial settlers, blockade runners, ship captains, whale hunters, patriots, explorers, artists, and writers. We recall the struggles between Native Americans and Europeans, the repulse of British forces in 1775 and 1814, the exploration of distant oceans by Stonington seafarers. We see Stonington's era as a polyglot seaport, a community of English, Portuguese, Irish, Italians, Germans, and African Americans. There are glimpses too of later years, when Stonington became known as a city-dwellers' refuge from the twentieth century, where village life and community survived. We invite you to explore the resources of this site, and to see Stonington in person as well. When you come, take the time to visit our three historic sites:

The Old Lighthouse Museum, where you can climb into its light tower and look far out toward the Atlantic. Our National Historic Site, the Nathaniel B. Palmer House, home of the Stonington seafarer credited with discovering Antarctica. Woolworth Library, a growing archive of local records, manuscripts, and photographs, serving a national research audience. Please visit us at any or all of our sites. You will find a warm welcome. Wish to support our efforts? You can become a Member and/or make a donation! MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Membership includes a subscription to Historical Footnotes and free admission to our museum sites and research library. Members are notified of coming programs and exhibitions and are entitled to a ten percent discount on our books and most gift shop items. Membership Applications are available at each of our sites and through our website: www.stoningtonhistory.org

HOW TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION
The Stonington Historical Society welcomes financial contributions to support its efforts to preserve and display the rich history of the Town. The organization enjoys the 501 (c) (3) status of a charitable institution. Please make checks payable to The Stonington Historical Society and mail them to:

The Stonington Historical Society
P.O. Box 103
Stonington, CT 06378

09/02/2026

Join us for an evening series of stargazing, navigation, and history on the grounds of the Lighthouse Museum. Associate Director of the Treworgy Planetarium, Brian Koehler, will explore how sailors like Stonington's own Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer navigated by the stars. Bring a blanket, pack some snacks and raise a glass under the stars.

$25 suggested donation per blanket - $20 for members. Space is limited and registration is strongly encouraged. The link to register is on our homepage, www.historicstonington.org.

08/31/2026

"Cousins: First Day of School, Fall 1955." (Outside West Broad Street School) Back Row: Ernest Norcia, Lydia DiCesare, Carlene V***a. Middle Row: Stephen V***a, Deborah Norcia, John DiCesare. Front Row: Cynthia V***a, Antoinette Norcia, Samuel Norcia.

08/29/2026

Ready or not, it's back to school!
Class photograph of the graduating class of Stonington Grammar School, June 1921, taken by Vera Hewitt. Front Row(L to R): Nicholeta Squadrito, Wilhelmina Derricks Meikle, Emily Robinson Cole, Elsie Morrison, Laura Mello, Alma Spears. Second Row: Clara Kerscheiper, Josephine Delagrange, Dorothea Hewitt Gould, Edward Beattie, Mary Clay, Mary Moniz, Genevieve Lynch. Back Row: Morton Brainard, David Robinson, John Marino, Thomas Anderson, Miss Blythe (?) 8th grade teacher and principal of the grammar school, Dorothy Stanton, Frank ?. The last two boys are unidentified.

Gift of Dorothea Hewitt Gould.

08/27/2026

Photograph of the children of Charles O. and Wilhemena Ryon: Charles G. "Charlie," John W. "Jack," and Marion, c. 1932. Gift of Anne Ryon.

08/25/2026

This is a friendly reminder that tomorrow is National Dog Day! Be sure you give the dogs in your life a belly rub, lots of treats, and plenty of kisses - the local representatives tell us its mandatory!

This good boy is Toby, the Streeter family dog, photographed in 1916 at their home on North Main Street. Gift of Anita P. (Streeter) Smith.

08/23/2026

Edited: St. Patrick Catholic Church, Mystic, 1910.

From the Saint Patrick's website: "On October 30, 1870, St. Patrick Church was dedicated by Bishop Francis McFarland, and Father Patrick Lawler. The dedication ceremony was largely attended by all denominations and nearly 2,000 people were present. At that time the Catholic population numbered 450 souls. The Stonington Mirror reported the dedication in its November 5, 1870 edition: 'On Sunday last, Right Reverend Francis P. McFarland dedicated St. Patrick Church at this place. At 9 o'clock Father James Reynolds, at the head of about 130 children and youth awaiting Confirmation, along with the laity and spectators, went out to meet the Bishop at the top of the hill on the Stonington side.' The trustees of the Westerly and Stonington churches came in a barouche and escorted them to the church. The Bishop and the priest passed down the east aisle, out around the church and returned to the chancel by the west aisle, reading in Latin the dedication service. The church was then pronounced dedicated to the worship of God under the name and patronage of St. Patrick. The Church that was dedicated in 1870 was an old Methodist Church. The building shown here, was built after 1905.

08/21/2026

Postcard of Salt Acres, 1911.

Erastus S. Chesebro (1832-1922) joined thousands of "forty-niners" who traveled to California seeking gold in the California Gold Rush. He returned to Stonington with enough money to build this beautiful mansard roof home in 1869. Known then as Little Point, the land was part of the original William Chesebrough land grant in 1649 that spanned over 2300 acres. Chesebro returned to Stonington at the outbreak of the Civil War to organize and command a military company. After the war, he returned to California, where he became Chief of the Napa City fire department. He had a steam fire engine built at Providence, RI, for the California department, which was shipped by way of Cape Horn, and it was the first engine of its type on the Pacific Coast. He came back to Stonington permanently and served as chief of the Stonington fire department from 1877 to 1894. The second owner, Henry F. Davis, a retired railroad builder, first fell in love with the sprawling mansion from his private railcar as he commuted to Boston. Mr. Davis purchased the property in 1910 and lived there for just four years. The home sat abandoned for more than a decade before it was purchased by Robert L. Johnstone in 1925 and renamed "Salt Acres" - a farm by the sea. Mrs. Johnstone remodeled the house in 1927 and added a wing to accommodate their large family.

08/19/2026

Men pouring molten metal into molds at the Atwood Machine Company during the 1940s. During World War II, Atwood Machine Company manufactured products for the war effort. This included: ammunition machinery, cam limit stops, depth charges, gray iron castings, gun carriage parts, gun mounts, gyroscope parts, machine tool parts, submarine parts and truck axles. Gift of Judith Honiss.

08/17/2026

Abigail Pendleton was born January 10, 1794 in Stonington, the daughter of Charles Pendleton and Abigail Rhodes, the eldest of their five children. She married Francis Amy and became a mother before her 22nd birthday. Abby's life was marked by loss that would be hard for us to imagine. Her younger brother Charles was murdered at sea. Her sister Maria died as a child. Abby had fifteen children, and only two of them outlived her. (Ten of those children died in infancy.) Abby died in Providence, not long after her seventy fifth birthday. She is buried in the Stonington Cemetery beside a small cradle-shaped gravestone which lists the names of her departed babies.

This portrait was painted by Phineas Stanton, and was the gift of Miss F. Amy Richards, Abby's granddaughter.

08/15/2026

We're taking a short break! The Woolworth Library will be closed on Monday, but will reopen with regular hours on Wednesday, August 19th at 9am. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Address

40 Palmer Street
Stonington, CT
06378

Website

http://www.historicstonington.org/

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