Browse Items (48 total)

The house on the property on the corner of North Main Street and Maple Avenue, known as Doane’s Farm, was built around 1810. It was originally a slaughter house.

Mr. Charles N. Doane bought the farm around 1911 and lived there until his death in…

On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, then Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued an order designating May 30th as a day for the decorating of soldiers' graves. Recently the date for commemorating Memorial Day was changed to…

The "Oliver Cromwell", 80 feet keel, 27 feet beam, 12 feet depth of hold, was ordered built at Saybrook (Essex) by the General Assembly on January 31st, 1776, and was the largest full rigged ship constructed for the state under the general direction…

The Pratt House at 20 West Avenue in Essex, a two-story, white clapboard structure, takes its name from William Pratt who emigrated from England in 1633 with his brother and sister to Newtowne, today known as Cambridge, Massachusetts. Then in 1636,…

Present day concerts in the town park on Main Street began in the summer of 1974. They are well attended so should continue for many summers to come. The concerts are sponsored by the town’s Park and Recreation Commission. Popular groups…

The Dauntless Club was originally the home of Abner Parker, who built a one-story ell here in 1740 (the present dining room). This part of the structure was later enlarged to two stories. Uriah Hayden built the main house in 1766. The consequent…

Comstock, Cheney and Company exemplifies the industry and ingenuity of the Yankees of the 1800’s. Samuel Merritt Comstock, born in 1809, was ambitious and inquisitive. When he finished his schooling in the one room school in Centerbrook, he went to…

A fund-raising endeavor begun in June, 1960, the Shad Bake has continued every year with increasing success.

Originally, it was held on the lawn of the Dauntless Club - "All the shad you can eat for $2.00”; the shad prepared with a secret recipe…

The firm of Looby and Fargo, manufactures of cylindrical brushes, goblet and gun brushes, also dish mops was founded in 1888. The factory building had been put up in 1858 by Edwin Kelsey for the production of ivory goods. It provided excellent…

The site of the old Grist Mill is at the mouth of the Falls River, east of the present River Road, just off what is now called Mill Road.

The accounts and dates of the various mills in this area are not completely clear. However, the following…