Center Memorial Park

Visit historic Downtown, starting at the parking lot at the corner of Main and Park Streets, near St. James Church (enter the lot from Park Street). The walk will take about 1.5 hours, and will include a visit to the offices of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, which is celebrating its 125 th anniversary this year. Our Downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places. Rain or shine. Led by Manchester’s Town Historian, Susan Barlow. Downtown photo by Dick Jenkins.

A talk by Manchester Historical Society president and CCSU professor, Steve Armstrong, emphasizing primary sources in describing life in the eighteenth century. There will be a book table fundraiser.

Explore “The Green” and visit the Woodbridge Farmstead in this one-hour walking tour. The Green boasts our first post office and the tavern that hosted a visit from George Washington. Meet on the front steps of the Senior Center. Plenty of parking behind the building. Rain or shine.

We’ll visit the monuments in the park, noting the memorials to soldiers who fought in the American Revolution, Civil War, and Spanish American War. The Civil War statue was unveiled on September 17, 1877, the 15th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam in Sharpsburg, Maryland, and we’ll provide commentary on this huge ceremony with its bagpipes and inspiring speeches. About one hour, and about one mile. Meet at the front steps of Town Hall, 41 Center Street. Rain or shine, but extr

Free history walk in the Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark District, co-sponsored by the District Commission, and the CT State Community College Manchester Institute of Local History. This two-hour walk visits the former silk mills, and related buildings and streets, with commentary on silk manufacturing, labor relations, and the South Manchester Railroad. This will be the 51st such walk in the mill district. All welcome. Rain or shine; extreme weather cancels. No dogs, please.

Three-mile moderately paced walk at the former Botti farm, farmed for most of the 20th century by immigrants from Italy. We’ll offer several options, including a couple of shorter distances. Learn more about the Bush Hill area, which included a Podunk Indian camp, as we explore the Manchester Land Trust’s 177.5-acre property in southwestern Manchester. We’ll view the fall foliage, and explore some of the 5+ miles of blazed trails. We’l

View major examples of re-use of buildings in this one-mile walk in the Historic District. Mill buildings now apartments; firehouse now a museum. Moderate pace along sidewalks. We’ll also visit the Cheney Homestead, built in 1785 and opened in 1969 as a house museum.

All welcome to this annual membership meeting with a presentation, “10 Years of Dedication, Legacy Art in Manchester,” by The Manchester Sculpture Project. Light refreshments will be served.

We’ll explore several parts of the cemetery with Ruth Shapleigh-Brown of the CT Gravestone Network. Ruth will describe the change from graveyards to cemeteries along with symbolism of the artwork on the older gravestones. We’ll visit the 2.5-acre Cheney Cemetery, adjacent to East Center Street. Meet at the Harrison Street entrance to the cemetery. Park on the street, or along the lanes in the cemetery

Explore the charm of the old North End, viewing what remains from Urban Renewal of the 1960s. We’ll visit Whiton Library, the “Y,” Apel’s Opera House ( pictured ), Woodbridge and Hudson Streets. About one mile along streets and sidewalks. Rain or shine. Extreme weather cancels. We’ll meet at the front steps of the Whiton Library. Park either in the library lot or along Old North Main Street. Free.