Birthday Bash – Reborn museum preps for America 250

Today Magazine Online
Oct 10
11 min read

Updated: Oct 25

• Renewed Avon History Museum Opens After Extensive Renovation

By Bruce William Deckert

Editor-in-Chief • Today Magazine Online

The newly renovated Avon History Museum is poised to celebrate America's 250th anniversary after reopening last month.

SEO: Reborn Museum America 250

Avon Health website — Click Ad

SEO: Reborn Museum America 250

The museum's official grand opening occurred on Labor Day, the first Monday in September. The grand opening was supposed to take place on the Fourth of July, but an issue with the HVAC system necessitated a delay in the festivities. Initially, the Avon Historical Society hoped to open the transformed museum in autumn 2024 to coincide with the society's 50th anniversary that year.

Over 150 people attended the Labor Day dedication ceremony that featured a brief history of the eight-year renovation project, a public reading of the Declaration of Independence by four Avon residents, a gigantic group red-ribbon cutting, and ice cream donated by Avon-based Dom’s Coffee and Creamery.

Attendees received a handheld U.S. flag and a booklet containing the Declaration of Independence. Children played colonial-era games outside while adults enjoyed the museum's patio, highlighted by over 200 brick pavers engraved with donor names. A pergola covers the patio, bordered by new benches and graced by a Little Free Library.

Two outdoor interpretive panels explain the history of the Farmington Canal and the 200-year history of the museum building that originally served as a one-room schoolhouse in a different location in town — in Avon's geographic center on Country Club Road, not the town center where Avon Congregational Church soars skyward.

The schoolhouse was relocated in 1982 to its current location on Route 44.

SEO: Reborn Museum America 250

Christensen website — Click Ad

SEO: Reborn Museum America 250

Further, the Avon Town Council formally launched Avon’s America 250 Commemoration at the grand opening via the presentation of a proclamation — although several America 250 events were held earlier this year, including an illuminating three-part lecture series offered in July by CCSU history professor Matthew Warshauer at the Avon Public Library.

"The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a foundational moment in the history of the United States and a declaration of the core ideals of liberty, equality and self governance," notes the Town Council's statement.

"The people of Avon played an active and honorable role in securing American independence, including service in the Revolutionary War and contributions to the founding ideals of our nation."

The Avon History Museum is located on East Main Street (aka Route 44) — a stone's throw from the two-centuries-old Avon Congregational Church on West Main Street, in Avon’s historic town center on the corner of a clear four-way intersection with some potentially confusing road nomenclature.

• Editor's Note — For some fascinating intel on this simple yet complicated intersection, see the Road Riddle section below

SEO: Reborn Museum America 250

CB website — Click This Ad

SEO: Reborn Museum America 250

The Town Council observes that Avon's America 250 program has been undertaken "with the goal of uniting the town through education, celebration, and community building" — and the council is encouraging "all citizens of Avon to participate in this historic occasion by celebrating, reflecting and building community spirit in honor of the 250th anniversary of American independence."

Similar local celebrations are being planned across the country in honor of the 250th birthday of the United States — perhaps the biggest birthday party in U.S. history.

Five decades ago, America celebrated its 200th anniversary aka Bicentennial. The various nomenclature for a 250th observance is more cumbersome: Bisesquicentennial, Semiquincentennial and Sestercentennial don't exactly roll off the tongue, and Quarter Millennial sounds more like 25% of a generation than a birthday celebration. So the nation's branding for our big 250th birthday bash is simply America 250.

The revitalized and rebranded history museum has three rooms: the Welcome Room, the Native American Room and the Main Exhibit Room. The museum is situated on the former site of the Farmington Canal that ran north-south through Avon from 1828 to 1848.

Thanks to the new HVAC system, the museum is scheduled to be open and accessible to visitors year-round on Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Parking is readily available behind the museum or at the nearby Avon Post Office.

SEO: Reborn Museum America 250

Helping You Navigate Life’s Financial Uncertainties

• 860-325-0330 •

JQR website – Click This Ad

SEO: Reborn Museum America 250

Numerous people, organizations and foundations have generously donated materials, money and time to make the reborn Avon History Museum a reality. Their names are listed on a plaque inside the museum. The plaque, intended to be a perpetual memorial, includes the names of donors from four decades ago — more specifically, in 1985 — when an earlier iteration of the museum was housed in the schoolhouse building.

"We thank them all for their support of our vision," says Avon Historical Society president Terri Wilson.

A special QR code is posted in the Welcome Room to help visitors learn more about Avon history. When scanned, the code reveals a detailed list of topics on the society's website, including: Avon abolitionists, the year 1818, immigration into Avon from 1850-1940, independent schools in town and more.

The building that houses the Avon History Museum features a multifaceted backstory dating back two centuries — indeed, the landmark structure has been artfully repurposed from its original use as a one-room schoolhouse. Actually, the schoolhouse was first transformed into a museum four decades ago. Renovations for the renewed museum began in July 2023.

Schoolhouse No. 3 was built in 1823 on Country Club Road in the geographic center of Avon, where the Avon Free Public Library stands today. For 115 years, from 1823 to 1938, students from western Avon were educated in this schoolhouse. In 1982, to make way for the new library, the school building was relocated from Country Club Road to East Main Street — the site of the former town hall — and soon became the Living Museum in 1983.

SEO: Reborn Museum America 250

Planning & Investing To Reach Life's Most Important Goals

• 860-544-5729 •

Bergenn website – Click This Ad

SEO: Reborn Museum America 250

Four years before the schoolhouse initially opened, construction on the nearby Avon Congregational Church was completed — in 1819, the same year the first service was held, according to the church website.

To commemorate the town's oldest currently owned building, the Avon Historical Society approached town officials with a long-range vision of establishing an upgraded state-of-the art museum in the footprint of the schoolhouse. The museum's main interior focus is the history of Avon since English settlers came to the Farmington Valley in the 17th century.

At that time, the land now known as Avon was called Nod and was later renamed Northington — then part of Farmington. The oldest town in the Valley, Farmington was founded in 1645.

Avon was established as a separate parish of Farmington in 1750, according to Avon town historian Nora Howard, and became an independent town in 1830.

"Avon residents can be so proud of the careful stewardship of one of its finest historical resources," Howard says of the reborn Avon History Museum, adding that "the items and the knowledge it preserves will honor all those who came before — including, quite incredibly, the Paleo-Indians here 12,500 years ago."

GLOBAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG

Yes, the museum features an exhibit on an internationally significant archaeological dig in Avon — the 2019 discovery of the Brian D. Jones Paleo-Indian Site along the Farmington River.

The site, placed on Connecticut's State Register of Historic Places in May 2023, is the oldest known human occupation site in southern New England.

A popular display from the previous museum is also showcased: the diorama of the Farmington Canal. The canal ran through Avon for two decades (1828-48) and the museum’s location is on the canal's old towpath. The canal crossed current-day Route 44 and stretched 84 miles from its southern terminus in New Haven to Northampton, Mass. — explaining why it was also known as the New Haven and Northampton Canal, per the CT.gov website.

Further, the oldest textile in the museum collection — a woman’s silk dress worn in a 1794 wedding in Avon — has been professionally restored thanks to a Historic Preservation Grant from the Simsbury-based Abigail Phelps Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).

The 230-year-old dress is spotlighted in a separate case along with other artifacts from the historical society’s collection.

"Avon residents can be so proud of the careful stewardship of one of its finest historical resources" — Nora Howard • town historian

In addition, professionally curated graphic panels and illustrated window shades tell the story of Avon over nearly four centuries.

The museum's cellar serves as a meeting space and storage for artifacts — and as a studio for the Avon Talks podcast that debuted in July 2023.

The new museum takes the history baton from the original Living Museum that operated from 1983 to 2012. In 1980, the Avon Historical Society signed a 99-year lease with the town of Avon to maintain the schoolhouse as the society’s headquarters. After the schoolhouse was moved from Country Club Road to East Main Street in 1982, a cellar was constructed for storage and a display area for artifacts was added on the main floor.

For about 20 years, Avon’s elementary school students visited the Living Museum to learn about the town’s history and spend the day in a one-room schoolhouse. The museum was open during the summer months and welcomed thousands of visitors.

Due to regular wear-and-tear and several maintenance issues — such as lack of proper climate control for the archival collection of textiles and other objects — the museum closed in 2012. The historical society renamed the building Schoolhouse No. 3, returning to its 19th-century nomenclature.

GREEN MUSEUM REBIRTH

A few years later, the state of Connecticut gave Avon a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant to make streetscape improvements at the nearby intersection of East and West Main Streets (Route 44) and Simsbury Road (Route 10) — including the installation of wider sidewalks, granite curbing and decorative lighting that reflected Avon’s historic character.

In 2018, the historical society commissioned banners on light poles along Simsbury Road that highlighted historic sites in Avon. Since then, the banners have been hung annually from April through November, but the society wanted to do more to enhance the historic center of Avon.

"Renovating Schoolhouse No. 3 into a new museum again seemed to be the answer," says Wilson, who began her tenure as the society's president in 2008. "Since 2014, professionals in the historic preservation and architectural community have stated that the greenest building is one that already exists — which is exactly what this is."

Wilson explains that the town of Avon and the historical society agreed on a "vision and stewardship" of this new museum so visitors could walk through the town’s true center to shop, eat at local restaurants, and learn about the area’s fascinating history.

When the museum project began in 2018, the town of Avon and the historical society developed an agreement to share the cost of the renovation — two-thirds of the funding would come from the town and one-third from the society, with an estimated overall cost of $250,000.

When the project was completed earlier this year, the final cost totaled almost $425,000 — the town provided one-quarter of the funds, and the historical society provided the remaining three-quarters, says Wilson.

"Professionals in the historic preservation and architectural community have stated that the greenest building is one that already exists" — Terri Wilson • AHS president

The project consisted of four primary financing components: the building renovation, the interior prep, exhibit creation and installation, and exterior landscaping. The town financed the building renovation while the society financed the rest.

The town allocated funds from its Capital Improvement Project budget and the American Rescue Plan Act that was enacted in 2021 in response to the COVID pandemic. The society contributed its three-quarter portion via private donations, in-kind services, grants and fundraisers such as the annual TableScapes event

"The town is very excited [about] the Avon History Museum project," says Avon town manager Brandon Robertson, adding that the museum is reusing "the town’s oldest public building to serve future generations of Avon residents — we are so pleased to partner with the Avon Historical Society on this effort."

Historical societies play a vital role in towns and cities across Connecticut and around the nation, and the five-town Farmington Valley region is well-versed in this beneficial phenomenon.

The Simsbury Historical Society (founded 1911) is the oldest Valley history organization. The Salmon Brook Historical Society (1945) is next in line chronologically — the name of Granby's society is derived from the waterway flowing through town that serves as a key tributary of the Farmington River. The Farmington Historical Society (1954) is next.

The Canton Historical Society was established in the late 1960s, likely 1966 or 1967 — available sources aren't crystal-clear about the year, but the society opened the Canton Historical Museum in 1970, according to the museum website. The Avon Historical Society (1974) is the baby of the Valley history bunch.

ROAD RIDDLE

Circling back to the intersection riddle mentioned above: The address of the Avon History Museum is 8 East Main Street (aka Route 44) — a stone's throw east of Avon Congregational Church, located at 6 West Main Street in Avon’s historic town center, on the corner of a crystal-clear four-way intersection with some confusing road nomenclature.

Why is this four-way intersection confusing? Typically, a simple crossroad connects two names — the names of the two crossroads, naturally.

In this case, the crossroad at the heart of Avon’s town center presents a bewildering riddle. These two roadways bear seven names, believe it or not, but a case can be made that it's also correct to say these two roads comprise six names instead. Confusing, indeed — yet what might appear to be an illogical contradiction is more accurately a paradoxical and factual reality.

How would you creatively describe this puzzling junction in the heart of Avon? Courtesy of Today Magazine Online, here's one attempt at coining a descriptive phrase: Avon's Legendary Sevenfold Intersection.

If another invisible thoroughfare were part of the equation, we could dub this jumbled junction: Avon's Infamous Octopus Intersection — for the uninitiated, an octopus has eight appendages.

But we digress — if you're keeping score at home, here are the seven street names: Traveling south from Simsbury into Avon, state Route 10 and U.S. Route 202 run concurrently, and in Avon the highway's local name is Simsbury Road. This accounts for three of the seven names.

The crossroad at the heart of Avon’s town center presents a bewildering riddle

That tri-named roadway crosses Route 44 and becomes Old Farms Road — the fourth name. Moreover, when that roadway turns onto U.S. Route 44, three more names are introduced — yes, Route 44 is one.

Traveling south and turning right, you leave Route 10 but remain on Route 202 and join Route 44, and Routes 44 and 202 concurrently head west. This joint highway's Avon name is West Main Street, and Avon Congregational Church is on the right going that direction. Traveling south and turning left, you leave Route 202 but remain on Route 10 and likewise join Route 44, and Routes 44 and 10 concurrently head east. That joint highway's name is East Main Street.

Adding these three road names — Route 44, West Main Street and East Main Street — brings the total at this intersection to seven names. Or is it six instead?

If you choose to overlook the West and East designations and decide to consider Main Street as one thoroughfare, then you can reasonably arrive at a different numerical conclusion and render six as an answer to this Avon town-center intersection question.

Evidently, such paradoxes abound in all human disciplines and across every aspect of existence — from history to linguistics to mathematics to philosophy to science to technology to theology.

Perhaps the moral of this baffling riddle-and-paradox story is as follows: When we dismiss a heartfelt paradox as a mere mind-numbing contradiction, we risk missing a deeper and more satisfying truth. Conversely expressed: When we embrace heartfelt paradox, we can encounter grace and safeguard the reward of such conclusive truth.

What's your take on this road riddle and these paradox sentiments? Feel free to share your perspective by scrolling down to the Comments field. +

SEO: Reborn Museum America 250

• Avon Historical Society website • Avon History Museum webpage

• info@avonhistoricalsociety. org • 860-678-7621

Featuring community news that matters nationwide, Today Magazine Online aims to record Connecticut’s underreported upside — covering the heart of the Farmington Valley and beyond

Today publisher and editor-in-chief Bruce Deckert is a multi-award-winning journalist who believes all people merit awards when we leverage our various God-given gifts for good