At the Museum

Fine Arts Gallery Tour: To Please Any Taste: Litchfield County Furniture & Furniture Makers, 1780-1830

Your personalized welcome and orientation to the Litchfield History Museum will be followed by a 45 minute guided tour by a staff member of the exhibit To Please Any Taste: Litchfield County Furniture & Furniture Makers, 1780-1830. Discussion will focus on the rapid economic and social changes as exemplified in the changing furniture styles. A self-guided tour of the Tapping Reeve House & Law School is also included.

Groups of Ten or More, by Appointment
Program Duration: 2 hours
Program Cost Per Person: $7, adults under 60, $5, adults 60 and over

“The Noblest Study”: The Legacy of the Litchfield Law School

Visit America’s first law school and meet some of its students. What impact did the students of the Litchfield Law School--the first law school in the country--have on their own society and government? Why did these young men choose to study law? Discover the politics and life of the years after the American Revolution.

Groups of Ten or More, by Appointment
Program Duration: 1 1/2 hours
Program Cost Per Person: $7, adults under 60, $5, adults 60 and over


“A Most Pleasant Country Village”: Litchfield Over Time

What did Litchfield really look like during the colonial era? How has it changed over the years? What brought about the changes?

Find evidence in maps, paintings, and letters at the Litchfield History Museum, and discover how the town’s appearance has evolved since the early 1700s.

Groups of Ten or More, by Appointment
Program Duration: 1 hour
Program Cost Per Person: $7, adults under 60, $5, adults 60 and over


Gentleman Lawyers & Lady Scholars

What was it like to be a student 200 years ago? Explore school life for all ages. Take part in a “common school” lesson. Investigate school life for all ages, and discover what different opportunities were once available to women and men. Learn about two famous Litchfield educators, Tapping Reeve and Sarah Pierce, and compare life at a law school to life at a young lady’s academy.

Groups of Ten or More, by Appointment
Program Duration: 1 1/2 hours
Program Cost Per Person: $7, adults under 60, $5, adults 60 and over

Litchfield on Foot: To Please Any Taste: Litchfield County Furniture & Furniture Makers, 1780-1830

Your personalized welcome and orientation to the Litchfield History Museum will be followed by a docent escorted visit to the exhibit To Please Any Taste: Litchfield County Furniture & Furniture Makers, 1780-1830. Discussion will focus on style, construction techniques, and regional attributes. After you tour the exhibit, go on an interpreter-led walking tour of Litchfield. At the end of the 19th Century, Litchfield residents became leaders in the Colonial Revival movement. Today, carefully preserved private homes line North and South streets. The tour will focus on the architecture and history of the houses.

Groups of Ten or More, by Appointment
Program Duration: 2 1/2 hours
Program Cost Per Person: $7, adults under 60, $5, adults 60 and over

Litchfield on Foot: Walking tours of North Street, South Street, or Center Village
What did the first white settlers of Litchfield find when they arrived in 1721? How has the town changed during its almost three hundred year history?

Experience the history and architecture of the community by walking its streets and seeing its buildings. Learn the stories of the town. See the showplace houses on the town’s most public streets. And discover a cross-section of the community’s churches, homes, and businesses.

Choose from the North Street, South Street, and Center Village tours.

Tours of North and South Streets and Center Village are offered through the summer, check the calendar for specific dates.This tour is also available for groups of ten or more by appointment.
Program Duration: 1/2 hours
Program Cost Per Person: $7, adults under 60, $5, adults 60 and over

At yourSite

Reading an Object

Become a detective! Discover how curators use artifacts to learn about life in the past. Use clues contained within an object itself to learn who owned it, made it, wore it, or used it, and what it can tell about the time it is from.

Program Duration: 1 hour
Program Cost: $50
Maximum Group Size: 20


Portrait reading

Discover past residents of Litchfield through their images and words. Meet people like Tapping Reeve, the Reverend Lyman Beecher, Sarah Pierce, and Mary Floyd Tallmadge.

Program Duration: 1 hour
Program Cost: $50
Maximum Group Size: 20