In 1935,
Glastonbury had no historical society, and the
Gideon Welles House stood empty and in the way of a
post office that was to be built in Glastonbury
Center, at the intersection of Hebron Avenue and
Main Street. The house was to be torn down. But
Dr. Lee J. Whittles and others in Glastonbury,
recognizing the house’s historic significance,
formed a committee to save it from destruction.
In 1936,
they succeeded by encouraging Ernest Victor
Llewellyn to purchase the house and have it moved to
a nearby lot on New London Turnpike. The committee
that formed to save the house became the Historical
Society. Working with Mr. Llewellyn, they had the
house declared a national historic building.
From
that beginning, the Historical Society of
Glastonbury has continued to preserve the Town’s
past, and to display it in an educational,
entertaining fashion. Please visit us at the Museum
on the Green, corner of Main and Hubbard Street, or
at the Welles-Shipman-Ward House, 972 Main Street,
South Glastonbury. |
