A Program Of
Major Support Provided By
Other CT Humanities Programs
Now Viewing:
Bristol
Joel T. Case and the Victorianization of Bristol’s Federal Hill
The Victorian designs of inventor and architect Joel T. Case make substantial contributions to the landscape of the Federal Hill area in Bristol.
Read
Early Church Bell Founders
Church bells served many important functions in early New England. Consequently, skilled bellfounders in Connecticut found themselves in high demand.
Read
Yankee Ingenuity: Curtis Veeder, a Mechanical Genius and Shrewd Businessman
Curtis Veeder, born in Pennsylvania, was a machinist with a knack for invention. An avid cyclist, he patented a bicycle seat he sold to the Pope Company, and later invented a cyclometer for measuring distances traveled by bicycles.
Read
The Life of Chauncey Jerome: An Insider’s Look at What Made Early Bristol Tick
A glimpse at clock making in Connecticut from Chauncey Jerome’s 1860 autobiography
Read
Lake Compounce: Bringing Amusements to the State’s Residents Since 1846
Bristol’s Lake Compounce is the oldest continually operating amusement park in the US and has been open every summer since 1846.
Read
Saving Sessions Woods
After decades as historic family property and a summer camp for children, Sessions Woods became a public park after local residents organized to save it from private developers.
Read
Muzzy Field: A Historic Ball Park Survives in a Post-Industrial City
After over one hundred years, Bristol’s Muzzy Field continues to welcome ball players and fans of sports history.
Read
Emily Holcombe Pioneered to Preserve Connecticut’s Colonial Past
Emily Seymour Goodwin Holcombe was an activist and preservationist who…
Read
Amos Bronson Alcott Changes the Way Connecticut Children Learn
Amos Bronson Alcott was an educator and reformer born in…
Read
Vera Buch Weisbord’s “Radical” Life
Vera Wilhelmine Buch Weisbord was a labor activist who helped organize trade unions and strikes that shaped the labor movement of the 1920s and 1930s.
Read
The Telescoping Fishing Rod – Today in History: March 8
On March 8, 1887, Everett Horton, a Bristol mechanic, patented a fishing rod of telescoping steel tubes.
Read
Rockwell Hardness Tester – Today in History: February 11
On February 11, 1919, Hugh Rockwell and Stanley Rockwell received…
Read
Mr. & Mrs. Rockwell’s Park
In 1914, bell and ball bearing manufacturer Albert Rockwell donated 80 acres of land to the city of Bristol for the creation of a public park.
Read
The Coaster Brake – Today in History: April 9
On April 9, 1907, Harry Pond Townsend patented the driving…
Read
Noble Jerome’s Clock Patent Model
Noble Jerome submitted this clock patent model to the US Patent Office along with his patent application in 1839. Providing a working model to the Patent Office was a common requirement for inventors up until the 1880s.
Read
Video – Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures: American Clock & Watch Museum
Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures is a series of 50 five-minute film vignettes that profiles a variety of the state’s most notable cultural resources.
Read
Video – William Gillette’s Railroad
YouTube – CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection Actor…
Read
Over Time: Bristol’s Historical Population
Census data, from colonial times on up to the present, is a key resource for those who study the ways in which communities change with the passage of time.
Read
When the World Ran on Connecticut Time
The success of the clock- and watch-making industries in Connecticut…
ReadMore Articles