Upcoming Events at the Thomas Lee House
Flea Markets
Saturday and Sunday, May 26th and 27th, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, June 30th and July 1st, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, September 1st and 2nd, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
We will be having three Flea Markets this summer! Vendors come from all over the region, offering some great bargains and unusual items. Stop by, and see what we have to offer.
Vendors: If you are interested in participating in the May Flea Market as a vendor, please click here for an application form.
Annual Meeting
Friday, June 1st, 6:00 p.m.
Our Annual Meeting takes place on the grounds of the Thomas Lee House. Bring a picnic supper and catch up on the activities of the Society.
Connecticut Open House Day
Saturday, June 9th, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
We are excited to be celebrating the 8th annual Connecticut Open House Day. This year's event promises to be the best ever, with costumed reenactors, farm animals, colonial activities and more! Knitters will be on hand to demonstrate their craft, including knitting styles from the Civil War. Kits will be available for those who want to learn by doing. An artisan from the Pequot Nation will teach guests how to make a cornhusk doll. We will also be offering a lecture and demonstration on woodworking techniques, complete with historic tools. Members of the Quoketaug Rangers will be back demonstrating armoring and smithy skills, as well as the ever-popular hatchet throwing.
The East Lyme High School String Orchestra will perform period music in the afternoon. And our newly refurbished Gift Store in the Barn will be offering new American Girl-style clothes in our Lee Family collection.
Join us, and and our visiting sheep, cows, oxen and chickens, for a fun, family day-and learn a little about our local history.
Our Mission
The purposes and objectives of the Society shall be:
1. To engage in educational, archival, research and exploration activities and to support such activities that will increase knowledge of and engender appreciation of the history of the Town of East Lyme and its heritage.
2. To encourage the preservation and restoration of the town’s historical assets, such as houses, structures, burying grounds, early artifacts and other things associated with the town’s origin and history.
3. To determine and develop year round historical programs and implementation of same. These programs and activities shall include the period of colonial history and may include all periods of American history and other history.
4. To cooperate and participate with other organizations for similar purposes and objectives, both within and without the town.
5. To establish the Thomas Lee House Preservation Committee to ensure the protection and preservation of the Thomas Lee House as an American heritage, wherein books, documents, pictures, furniture, tools, implements, artifacts and other articles associated with the history of the Thomas Lee House and the family are housed.
Looking for Volunteers
Are you a reader? researcher? transcriber? As the Remembering the Nehantics project continues its research into the stories and history of the Nehantic people, and more contacts are made with regional historians and Nehantic descendants, more books, newspapers, diaries, account books, etc., are being recommended as potential resources for this work. We are looking for volunteers to help with our research and reading. We are happy to report that the project is drawing interest from at least five shoreline communities, and volunteers so far include people from three towns. We have people who have personal interests in Nehantic history and/or the overall history of East Lyme, others who are history buffs, and retired teachers. More are always welcome. We have started an "on call" list in anticipation of what the coming weeks and months might bring us for documentation. A transcription machine is available for use.
If you have an interest in learning more about our region's native history, we would love to have you join our adventure, as we seek to document the history of our community's first people. Let us know what you might like to do, and when you are available. Please email us at info@eastlymehistoricalsociety.org for more information.
Visit the Samuel Smith House, c. 1685
May 20th, and 27th and June 3rd, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
The Historic Properties Commission and the Conservation of Natural Resources Commission of the Town of East Lyme are pursuing funding to preserve the Samuel Smith House, 82 Plants Dam Road, East Lyme. Discussions are currently underway to determine the best use of this historic treasure to further understanding of the history of our community.
The house will be open Sundays in May and early June. We encourage you to visit the house and see what the excitement is all about. To learn more about the Samuel Smith House, please visit:
Thomas Lee House
The Thomas Lee House (c. 1660) is one of the oldest wood frame houses in Connecticut still in its primitive state. The Lee House is listed on the National Register of Historic Houses, and is open for tours during the summer months. Learn more about the Lee House at About Us.
Take a Virtual Tour of the Lee House.
Little Boston School House
The first record of a school in the area of the Lee House dates to at least 1734. The present building was erected on land donated by Elisha Lee. In use until 1922, the building was eventually moved to its present location, next to the Lee House. It was donated to the East Lyme Historical Society in 1926. Learn more about the Little Boston School House at About Us.
Anthropology students from East Lyme and Ledyard High Schools, under the direction of James Littlefield and Dr. John Pfeiffer, conducted an archaeological study of the site of the original Little Boston School House. Their results can be found at:
News from Our Neighbors
Coventry Historical Society
Saturday, May 19th, Noon-4:00 p.m.
300 Years of Coventry Quilts
View nearly 100 antique and new quilts in all phases of construction along a picturesque woodland path. Take this unique opportunity to see a wide array of beautiful handcrafted works, all made or owned by Coventry residents. Sponsored by the Coventry Historical Society at the Strong-Porter Museum, 2382 South St., Coventry. The event is located just ¼ mile from the Nathan Hale Homestead’s “A Stitch in Time” Fiber Festival. Make a day of it and enjoy both! Rain date: Sunday, May 20th. Donation: $5 per person. For more information, e-mail gdilk@aol.com, call 860.742.9656 or visit:
Mystic River Historical Society
Wednesday, May 23rd, 7:30 p.m.
Jim Streeter, Groton's Town HIstorican, Mayor of the Town of Groton, and active founder of Groton Historical Society, will speak about Groton's Morton Plant, who founded Connecticut College and owned Branford House at Eastern Point in Groton. Plant also owned a considerable amount of property in the northern section of East Lyme. This presentation is free and open to the public. It will take place at the Mystic Congregational Church Parish Hall on Broadway Street, Mystic. For more information, please visit:
Mystic River Historical Society
Lyme Public Hall
Sunday, June 24th, 2:00 p.m.
Lyme and the Battle of Antietam: A Presentation and Cemetery Tour
This year is the 150th anniversary of the Batttle of Antietam, the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. Lyme resident Jim Beers will discuss this Civil War battle, its consequences and how Lyme soldiers were involved. The presentation will be followed by a tour of Antietam related graves in the North Lyme Cemetery. Lyme Public Hall is located at 249 Hamburg Road (Route 156), Lyme. For more information, please visit:
The Beam
For the last two years, a 25 foot hand-hewn beam, cut by our friend Greg Bill of Lyme, CT, has been behind the barn next to the Thomas Lee House, drying and weathering in prepartion for its installation in the second floor East room of the house, to replace the original, but badly deteriorating, beam.
Due to the unusually moist weather this past year or two, the beam has acquired the appearance we were hoping for. It has now been moved to a barn, where it is shimmed, on blocks and out of the weather. It will continue to season until we are ready to replace the bad beam, planned for 2013.
We anticipate this will cost between $18,000 and $22,000. Our beam fund continues to grow, but slowly. We have a litle over $3000 dollars in actual beam donations thanks to a recent $500 donation, plus another $5000 from the Kalal grant.
We are offering you this exciting opportunity to become a permanent part of the Lee House. In return for a $20 donation, we will inscribe your name, or the name of a loved one, on a copper plate. The plates will then be attached to the smooth side of the beam, where they will remain invisible to visitors, but will serve as a time capsule should the beam ever be removed. Along with the plates will be a brief account of the project, and how the money was raised for it. The beam is huge and we have plenty of room for more tags (hundreds more).
Why not think of relatives and loved ones who would like to be a part of the history of the Thomas Lee House by having their name inscribed on one of the largest time capsule projects in New England? This will not be opened or seen again until the house needs to be repaired again (probably in at least 200 years).
Won’t you join us in this project, and buy a little piece of posterity? The more support we get from our members and friends, the greater our chances of getting matching grants, and the sooner we can install the beam. These plates are a wonderful way to honor a family member or to share your love of history with future generations.
All you have to do is send a check for $20, payable to the East Lyme Historical Society, to:
East Lyme Historical Society
c/o A. Burt Hobby
PO Box 365
East Lyme, CT 06333
Please include the following information:
The name as you would like it to appear.
Your name and address.
Your email address.
For more information, please email: bhobby5359@aol.com
Thank you for supporting our time capsule in a beam!
How YOU Can Help with Preserving East Lyme History
The East Lyme Room at the Public Library on Society Road in East Lyme contains a vast collection of photos and papers of East Lyme history, cared for by members of the East Lyme Historical Society. The Archive Group is always looking for items to add to the East Lyme Historical collections.
You can help document our past and still keep your photos, letters and documents in the possession of your family. Here are some of the items in the archives:
Books of local history,
Photographs of people, homes, and businesses
Diaries, journals and ledgers
Programs and advertisements of past events
Postcards of East Lyme
Newspaper articles
Scrapbooks
Any items you have DO NOT have to be given to the Archives.
For more information you may contact a member of the archive group or visit the Archives at the Library. At present the Archives are open on Mondays (when the Library is open) from 10:00 to 12:00 for viewing. Appointments can be made with a group member for other times.
Volunteers are always welcome at the Archive Room! Stop by any Monday the Library is open- we'll be happy to put you to work.
Contact Elizabeth Kuchta at 860.739.6651 or e-mail blkuchta@snet.net (use Archives for the subject) with any questions.
Your Support is Important!
The East Lyme Historical Society owns and maintains the Thomas Lee House and Little Boston School House, offers educational programs to the community throughout the year, works to provide access to historical materials through its publications, archives, and website, and is always ready to work with other groups to help foster understanding and appreciation of the history of our town.
And we do it all as volunteers!
The generosity of our town and our members is greatly appreciated. Time, energy, and dollars donated are put immediately to work.
If you are currently a member, THANK YOU! If not, please consider joining us. You may download the Membership Form here, or print the Membership Form page here, and mail either one to us, or you can contact us at:
info@eastlymehistoricalsociety.org
Donations are always welcome.
And please remember: all of our programs are open to the public, free of charge. We welcome your participation!
BUSINESS OWNERS: Become a Business Member of the East Lyme Historical Society for only $50 a year. Members receive a free listing on our Business Directory page, with a link to their own sites, as well as being mentioned in our newsletters. Our website is currently attracting over 500 unique visitors and 2500 hits each month, from all over the country, and from around the world. Many of them are in the process of planning trips to our area, and would be interested in the services you provide. Local residents will recognize your generosity, as well.
