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:

Cement Kiln placed on National Register of Historic Places

The Cement Kiln, at the corner of Litchfield Turnpike and Dillon Road, became the third property in Woodbridge to be listed on the The National Register of Historic Places, in early October 2000. The other two Historic Places in Woodbridge are the Thomas Darling House on Litchfield Turnpike, and the Castle/Russell House, located at 555 Amity Road.

Now that we have received this recognition for the Cement Kiln, the AWHS will start looking for ways to stabilize the structure before it “all falls down.” Built about 1876, it is still a major landmark in town as a rare example of 19th century industry and intrigue. In the AWHS collection we have a scan from a postcard circa 1910. The kiln is not in nearly as good condition now! The right side is mostly destroyed, and trees have grown all around and on what remains.

For a recently published newspaper article that mentions the Cement Kiln, written by Woodbridge resident Nancy Polk, please visit the CT Bulletin: 
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Woodbridge Matters: Life and Death on Litchfield Turnpike

Saturday, January 19, 2013
By Nancy Polk

One of the cement kilns on Litchfield Turnpike in Woodbridge. (Photo by Nancy Polk)

WOODBRIDGE — {excerpt}... Life on Litchfield is rarely dull. ...Off the road deep in the woods, Litchfield Turnpike has a second cement kiln, owned by the Town of Woodbridge. One on the corner of Litchfield and Dillon lies in ruins surrounded by fencing and is listed on the National Register. A second kiln so deep into the woods it is virtually inaccessible, is in fine condition. It is barely visible from the Turnpike. It is massive and dark with many hand cut stones and a brick vault in perfect condition, evidence of a nineteenth century scam. Many Woodbridge investors lost money. The concept was simple, toss local rock into the large stone furnace and wait until it melts. Then out comes fine cement. In this case the local bedrock proved unusable and produced an inferior product. Speculation is that the first batch was hauled into New Haven and dumped into the harbor more than 100 years ago. ...