Woodbury's 350th

This weekend was the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the founding of the town we live in. Pretty cool! There were events all weekend long. One of my favorites was the History Walk. All up and down Main Street were signs with information about the history of each historic building. And today my other favorite was the Colonial Fair. It was held at the two most famous historic houses in town, as well as the town's main park, all of which are near each other, and all of which are near our house.

This is the Hurd House from 1680. Its claim to fame is it's the oldest house in Litchfield County that's still in its original location. We pass by it every day, and I'd always wanted to go inside. The Woodbury Historical Society has owned the house for about the last 40 years and it's open from time to time for visitors.
This is the barn to the Hurd House. There is a blacksmith on the right side of the barn, and he was making things all day long.

This is the Glebe House, which is just down the street from Hurd House. Glebe House is a working museum, and another place in town that I've been wanting to visit. Inside they had a special exhibition of Colonial furniture, including a late 1600's "Carver's Chair" that the museum just acquired and of which they are very proud. (Photos were not allowed inside.) The Glebe House is where the local Anglican (later Episcopalian) minister lived during the Revolutionary War, and it's where the United States branch of the Episcopal Church was founded. Right after the war, a meeting was held at Glebe House with the leadership of the local Episcopal Church, and the first Bishop was elected who would serve outside of Britain. (Worship in the Anglican Church was not looked upon kindly during - or after - the war. Apparently you couldn't have your revolution and allegiance to the King at the same time, not even in the name of religion.) During the war, the minister who lived in the house with his wife and 9 children was persecuted as he was English-educated as an Anglican (though American-born). There is a place in the house where he supposedly hid from time to time to escape the wrath of the Sons of Liberty.

There were a lot of Revolutionary War and colonial era exhibits. This was one of my favorites. You can't hear the blast of the muskets that went off just before I took this picture, so you'll have to try to imagine it.