Save the Dates! 2026 Historic Hartford Walking Tours
Prepare your favorite walking shoes! Our popular Historic Hartford Walking Tours return this April with new themes and specialty walks to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding! Here is a preview of what’s in store for this season:
- New for 2026! Historic Hartford Walking Tour: Hartford Art and Artists (Saturday, May 2, 10 am – 12 noon)
- New for 2026! Historic Hartford Walking Tour: Old South Cemetery and the Camp Field (Saturday, May 9, 10 am – 12 noon)
- Historic Hartford Walking Tour: Beyond Main Street (Saturday, May 16, 10 am – 12 noon)
- New for 2026! Historic Hartford Walking Tour: Revolutionary Hartford (Saturday, September 19, 10 am – 12 noon) Join us to learn about Hartford’s Colonial roots – featuring part of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route!
- Historic Hartford Walking Tour: Charter Oak & Coltsville (Saturday, September 26, 10 am – 12 noon)
Thank You for an Amazing 2025 Season!
In 2025, Connecticut Landmarks continued to deliver high-quality, thought-provoking programs, tours, and field trips to connect people to our state’s complex past, while navigating rapidly changing funding landscapes and a country that is more divided than ever. We are proud of the role we play in bringing people together to understand the Connecticut story and preserving the past for future generations. We invite you to explore our 2025 Annual Report–which includes a special section about our recently launched strategic plan–to discover how we encourage critical thinking and create spaces for connection through education, preservation, and storytelling at our historic house museums.
Make Your Own Stamp Inspired by Réveillon Wallpaper
Inspired by the handmade block-printed wallpaper at the Phelps-Hatheway House & Garden, this craft is a stamp using a potato! Embellish holiday cards, signs, fabric, and more with your own creative flair. We would love to see any stamps you’ve made!
- Cut a potato in half.
- Use a cookie cutter, utility knife, paring knife, or craft blade to carefully cut a design about a quarter inch deep on the flat surface. Remember, your final image will be the mirror of the design you carve!
- Use your knife to carefully carve away the surface around the design you will print.
- Press a paper towel to the surface of your stamp to wick away excess moisture.
- Apply acrylic paint to your stamp generously using a paintbrush.
- Press firmly on paper, cardstock, fabric, or other surface to stamp your design!
Adult supervision recommended for steps involving sharp objects!
Make Your Own Paper Star Ornament
This craft is inspired by Victorian-era decorations at Hartford’s Butler-McCook House & Garden. The perfect addition to any space, personalize your ornaments with customized paper to gift to your loved ones. You can incorporate paper designs with animals, sports, and funky patterns, or even use pieces of movie posters or pages from a favorite book to create a unique design. The ornament pictured here was crafted by one of our amazing staff members using a Connecticut Landmarks brochure. Below is a YouTube tutorial from Easy Paper Origami on how to make your own paper origami star. We would love to see any ornaments you’ve made!
Missed the potato stamp craft inspired by the historic wallpaper at the Phelps-Hatheway House & Garden? Click here to view the instructions!
Make Your Own Scrap Wood House
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Make Your Own Cheshire Pie: A Favorite from the Nathan Hale Homestead Hearth
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Make Your Own Martini: Caroline Ferriday’s Favorite Cocktail
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Give the Gift of History this Holiday Season
A membership to Connecticut Landmarks is the perfect gift for history buffs, old home enthusiasts, families, lifelong learners, nature lovers, and explorers. Our members enjoy free admission to all seven of our historic sites across the state, discounts to programs and in our museum shops, invitations to special events, plus so much more! Know someone who loves museums, botanical gardens, historic houses, and science centers? Buy your loved one a NARM level membership, opening the door to over 1,000 cultural institutions across the nation, including Connecticut Landmarks’ seven historic house museums. Memberships not only support our education and preservation work, but they truly are the gift that keeps on giving all year long. And best of all, your membership will be emailed immediately — perfect for when you save the best gifts for last!