Historic Stonington

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Historic Stonington

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

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. The Richard W. 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

10/14/2026

We've featured cheerleaders and field hockey players, and now its time for baseball! This is the baseball team from the 1947 Stonington High School yearbook.

10/11/2026

In 1970, 350 years after the arrival of the English at Plymouth, their descendants hosted an anniversary celebration and they asked a Wampanoag tribal member, Frank James (Wamsutta), to speak at their state dinner. Before the event, the planners asked to see his speech and were offended that Mr. James' views on the Pilgrims and their treatment of his people did not align with their own. James was told his speech could not be delivered, and he was offered another written by a PR firm, which he declined. He did not attend the event, and instead went to Cole's Hill and read his original speech with members of his community. Since that first protest, indigenous activists have gathered annually to honor their ancestors, celebrate their resilience and draw attention to issues like land rights, climate justice, and the unsolved disappearances and murders of native women.

You can read Frank James' suppressed speech here:

UAINE is a Native-led organization of Native people and our supporters who fight back against racism and for the freedom of Leonard Peltier and other politic...

10/09/2026

Join us for the world premiere screening of the new film Rollie McKenna: Life and Photography presented by Historic Stonington and The United Theatre with support from Connecticut Humanities and the Rosalie Thorne McKenna Foundation.

Using personal recollections, interviews with family and friends, local and national archives, Rollie McKenna: Life and Photography explores the unconventional life and career of Rollie McKenna (1918–2003). McKenna documented an entire generation of American arts and culture thanks to her prolific career as a photographer, which afforded her both personal and professional independence. Photography allowed McKenna to travel the world and cultivate her craft free from the typical expectations of American women in the mid-twentieth century. It also offered her access to a privileged circle of authors and artists. Her subjects included Dylan Thomas, T.S. Eliot, Derek Walcott, Robert Frost, Edith Sitwell, Elizabeth Bishop, James Merrill, Alexander Calder, Helen Keller, and Robert Graves, to name just a few. Her local photographs document the local landscape of Stonington Borough as a colorful fishing village populated with artists and academics. Life and Photography will appeal to audiences interested in 20th century literature, local history, portrait photography, architecture, literary history, popular culture, q***r culture, feminist culture, and poetry.

Tickets are $10 and are available on the United's website.

10/07/2026

Don't forget to join us tomorrow evening for our second Night Sky event on the Lighthouse grounds (program begins at 7:30). We will be exploring the mythology behind the constellations with Leslie F. Brown, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of Physics, Astronomy & Geophysics at Connecticut College, and Douglas Gobeille, Teaching Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Rhode Island.

Bring a blanket or chair and join us for an evening of stargazing!

Pictured here are the Signs of the Zodiac from Smith's Illustrated Astronomy, 1852. Gift of Harriet Babcock Brown.

10/05/2026

Don't forget to join us Wednesday evening for our last America 250 program - Rhetoric and Reason. Enjoy an evening of stirring and thought-provoking speeches from American history that explore the values and troubles of our country over the past 150 years. This is sure to be an evening to remember, so don't miss out!

10/03/2026

West Broad Street, 1910, showing the Star Bowling Alley and Lawton's Auto Supply Store. Gift of Estelle Ferraro Misto.

10/01/2026

Join us for our second Night Sky program at the Lighthouse Museum, next Thursday, October 8th from 7pm to 9pm. Bring your own blanket or chair and learn about the mythology behind the constellations with Leslie F. Brown and Douglas Gobeille. The presentation will begin at 7:30 so be sure to arrive before then and dress for the weather. A suggested donation of $25 per group/blanket would be appreciated, and can be given the night of via Venmo or cash.

We look forward to seeing you and spending another evening under the stars!

09/29/2026

Attention Mystic and Stonington locals! We recently received some wonderful staff photos of the Cottrell Lumber Company in Mystic, and need your help in identifying the people in this photograph. Thank you!

09/27/2026

Join us for our last America 250 program - Rhetoric and Reason. This event will feature five great speeches from American history to explore the power of oration to effect cultural, societal, and political change. Free and open to the public - this program was generously grant-funded by the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut.

Address

40 Palmer Street
Stonington, CT
06378

Website

http://www.historicstonington.org/

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