Holiday Open House at the Darling House!

The Amity and Woodbridge Historical Society will host a Holiday Open House on Sunday December 8th from 2 to 4 PM. The event will take place at the historic Thomas Darling House, located at 1907 Litchfield Turnpike in Woodbridge, CT. Members of the Historical Society will serve fresh baked goods, mulled cider, and punch, while guests enjoy the festive air of an early colonial afternoon holiday reception and the tastefully decorated interior of this 18th century home. There will be a live music Carol Sing, with vocals by the Amity Chamber a-cappella group,and baked goods for purchase. Please join us for a delightful afternoon at this free event!

Woodbridge First Selectman Ellen Scalettar is greeted by "Mr. and Mrs, Thomas Darling" (portrayed by AWHS President Donald Menzies and his wife Dana) at the AWHS Holiday Open House on December 8th 2013.

The ‘Old South School’ renovation is completed

A Dedication and Open House took place at the Old South School on June 2nd 2013.

The South School Restoration Committee, The Town, and the Amity and Woodbridge Historical Society invited the public to view the finished one room school house on the day of its official dedication. Opening ceremonies at the school, located at 1181 Johnson Road in Woodbridge, commenced at 12:00 noon, and the open house ran until 2:00 pm.

As a fully restored one-room schoolhouse, it will be utilized by Beecher Road School as an educational tool to teach local history, much the same way the teachers in Bethany use the old Center School. A teacher can take their class there to reenact a lesson or a whole day’s activities — and see how Woodbridge did the three R’s over one hundred years ago (that would be: Readin’,  Ritin’, and ‘Rithmatic, of course)!

The Old South School on Johnson Road had been under renovation for many years — the project to  renovate and restore to its former self began in the early years of the new millennium. Many volunteers and donations (we have acquired some early desks, but still need many more!) have  helped us reach various milestones over the years:

• June 2002 - school gets a new wood shingle roof!
• Early 2003 - interior work commences
• July/August 2003 - The original front porch which was removed in 1928 is rebuilt. The reconstruction is based on early photographs and the “shadowline” of the porch roof, still visible on the main block.
• October 2008 - hand work by Rich Jeynes brought the exterior to near perfection

To see how the old and new schoolhouse compare, visit Johnson Road on “What Was There” and use the slider to shift back and forth through time!

Here are some photos: