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| Our History Room Volunteers CLICK to enlarge |
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Al Gorman History Room
at Miller Library - Top Floor
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Regular Hours: Tuesday 11 AM to 3 PM
Also by appointment
Inquiries should be sent to
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Latest update
November 6, 2025
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Honoring Hamden Veterans
Two Plaques Added to Veterans Memorial
This Memorial Day, let us honor the service of over 8000 Hamden men and women who have served in our armed forces. Two plaques with the names of recent veterans were added this year to our memorial in front of Hamden Middle School.
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| Hamden Veterans Memorial |
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Historical Society Participates in
Hamden Through Time Event
Town Clerk Karimah Mickens sponsored a special celebration of Hamden history throughout the week of September 15 to 20. It focused on the year 1938, when the play Our Town, by Hamden resident Thornton Wilder, was first peformed. The History Room displayed some of its items in a case in Miller Memorial Library. These included a milk bottle from the Brock-Hall Dairy, an Erector set made by the company of Hamden resident A. C. Gilbert, a brick from the old Church Street School made by the Davis Company on State Street, a sign for the old Hamden Airport, and many photographs from around the year 1938.
On Thursday evening, Town Clerk Mickens swore in Historical Society board member Paul Saubestre as Municipal Historian, after which he gave an illustrated talk on life in Hamden around the year 1938. The evening concluded with a few fun trivia questions.
It is hoped that Hamden Through Time will become an annual event.
Click on photos to enlarge.
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| Items from the HIstory Room on display on the top floor of Miller Library |
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| Former Municipal Historian Dave Johnson, archivist Kathy Lindbeck, new historian Paul Saubestre, and Historical Society president Ken Minkema at the Thursday event |
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Jonathan Dickerman House
Brings History to Life
for Quinnipiac Students
On Friday, September 12, three classes from Quinnipiac University visited the Dickerman House in order to learn about everyday life in the eighteenth century, as part of a course on “The History of Home.” Nearly 70 students in several groups, under the instruction of Prof. Amy Bowers, toured the house and Talmadge Mill, led by Municipal Historian Paul Saubestre and Hamden Historical Society President Ken Minkema.
Click on images to enlarge.
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| Ken Minkema and students at the Cider Mill |
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| Paul Saubestre and students in the bedroom |
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Spinning Demonstration at Jonathan Dickerman House
The group “2nd Sunday Spinners” put on a demonstration at the Jonathan Dickerman house on Sunday August 10. The group meets monthly at various locations and carries on the centuries old tradition of spinning wool into yarn, as well as knitting, crocheting and other fiber arts.
The spinning of wool in America was a vital process for the colonists, especially during the colder months of the year. It was very labor intensive, as the wool had to be gathered from sheep, typically in the spring, and then undergo several steps to prepare it. The process involved shearing, sorting, washing, picking, carding, spinning, dyeing, and weaving.
Learn more about this fascinating art in the textile room of the Jonathan Dickerman House. It will be open three more Sundays, August 17, 24, and 31, 1 to 4 PM.
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Plan your visit to the
Jonathan Dickerman House and
Talmadge Cider Mill Barn
105 Mount Carmel Avenue
Open Sundays 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
in July and August 2025
No Admission Charge
Take a guided tour of the 1792 house with its period furnishings. The Cider Mill Barn houses a display of the work done by master carpenter Bob Zoni to restore the house after it was damaged in the 2018 tornado, and a bench made from the famous Door-Tree of Hamden.
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| Parlor of the Jonathan Dickerman Hoise |
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Join or Donate to the
Hamden Historical Society
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On May 14, 2025, some 50 people gathered at the Miller Senior Center to watch Hamden Historical Society resarcher Paul Saubestre's presentation on the History of Hamden Streets. Click on the video window to watch a recording.
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| Street presentation at the Miller Senior Center |
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It's Up! It's Down! It's Up! It's Down! It's Up!
MILESTONE V UPRIGHT AGAIN
The Hamden Historical Society archives contain a picture of the circa 1800 milestone marking five miles from the New Haven Green, taken around 1975 in front of what was then the IBM building. In 2018, Municipal Historian Dave Johnson found the stone leaning close to the ground and covered by brush, likely the result of a motor vehicle accident. In 2021, members of the Historical Society set it back upright. Read the story here. In 2024, the stone was found completely flat on the ground. A police report confirmed that this resulted from a motor vehicle accident. Last month the stone was found upright again, thanks to the efforts of an unknown party. How long will it remain standing this time?
Click on any photo for a larger image.
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| Milestone V in 1975 |
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| Milestone leaning in 2019 |
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| On the ground in February 2025 |
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| Milestone up once again. |
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| Milestone in front of the Spring Glen Medical Center at 2200 Whitney Ave. |
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| Damage to Milestone VIII |
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The Historical Society is aware that Milestone VIII, in front of the inn at 3400 Whitney Ave., has been damaged and is currently assessing the best way to restore it.
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Rachel Hartley, The Hamden Historian
In honor of Women's History Month, we spotlight Rachel Hartley, who literally wrote the book on the history of Hamden. To celebrate the town's sesquicentennial in 1936, she wrote The History of Hamden, Connecticut, 1786-1936. She was a reporter for the New Haven Register during World War II, then served as the editor of the Hamden Chronicle for 15 years. She wrote columns in several publications and gave humorous lectures. In 1959, she published an updated edition of her History which remains the definitive book on the subject to this day. She was then elected the first female selectman in the town's history—and was destined to be the only one, as the town then switched to a mayor-council government. In 1962, she wrote The Story of Hamden, Land of the Sleeping Giant, a shorter historical book that was used in the public schools. She died in 1983 at age 87.
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| Rachel Hartley and fellow selectman William Adams turn in their nameplates to the first mayor, John DeNicola, Sr. From the 1966 town annual report. |
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The Hamden Historical Society is very pleased to announce that payments for new memberships, renewals of memberships, and donations of any kind may now be made through PayPal.
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CLICK on the applicable PayPal button below for annual individual, annual family or lifetime membership.
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Hamden Historical Society
P.O. Box 5512
Hamden, Connecticut 06518-0512
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In observance of Black History Month, we again feature a famous 19th century Black resident of Hamden, the medical practitioner known as "Doctor Hurd."
Worth noting in the page about him from Hamden: Images of America (Arcadia Publishing, 2004) is his observance of "temperance". Unlike some established medical professionals of the time, he did not use alcohol in his medications. This is followed by a page from the Hamden Historical Society's Fall 2007 newsletter.
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Hamden in Shadow of Total Solar Eclipse 100 Years Ago This Week
Click here for the story of an event that will not be seen again in our area until 2079.
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Gilbert J. Spencer
1935-2025
We are saddened by the passing of Gil Spencer on January 16, 2025. Known as "Mr. Sleeping Giant" for his many years of service to the Sleeping Giant Park Association, he was a member of the Hamden Fire Department for 39 years, and also served many other Hamden organizations. His obituary from Beecher & Bennett Funeral Service may be found here.
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| Jonathan Dickerman House (1792) |
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The Hamden Historical Society
Jonathan Dickerman House
and
Talmadge Cider Mill Barn
105 Mount Carmel Avenue
No Admission Charge
Open Sundays 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
in July and August 2025
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