New Canaan Historical Society, New Canaan, Connecticut
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Our Library

The Library is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Open on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

In the center of the library room there is a fascinating exhibit of very old stamp collections, donated by Walter Richards' family. Mr. Richards designed these stamps himself.

At the rear of the Town House, a building addition contains the Society's library of more than 3,500 volumes on genealogy and area history, along with a valuable collection of manuscripts, deeds and other documents, and local newspapers (also on microfilm). Indexes of New Canaan businesses, genealogical data on area families, together with town tax and real estate records, provide a unique resource for historical and demographic research.
A section of the library is available to those interested in genealogical research beyond our local area.   Ample work areas are available for your research projects.    For better service, appointments are appreciated.
There is a charge for individual research by our librarian, either on-site or requested on-line. An information sheet is available regarding our fees and policies, which we would be glad to send upon your request.
The New Canaan Library is an excellent resource for wider genealogical searches.   Located near the center of town at 151 Main Street, the library has computers available to the public with free access to numerous genealogy web sites.

NEW: The Historical Society is often called by people with questions about conservation and preservation of various treasures - books, papers, costumes etc.  We have been notified that a new web site has recently been created by the Library of Congress with helpful information about preparing, protecting and preserving family treasures.  For more information, click on the link provided: Library of Congress  We believe this will be helpful in providing new information for safeguarding your treasures.

Published by the Society in celebration of our town's anniversary in 1981, Portrait of New Canaan by Mary Louise King, is the first full book-length history of the town.   Mrs. King recounted the story from 1731 when the first settlers were considered inhabitants of either western Norwalk or northeastern Stamford and paid taxes accordingly.    New Canaan was incorporated in 1801.   This informative, entertaining book may be purchased at the Society and at the New Canaan Book Shop. Over many years the Society's publishing tradition has produced a variety of annuals, books and pamphlets, rich in the details of our local history.

"Engagements Abroad" is our newest 2008 annual which presents Profiles from a Half Century of New Canaan's Extraordinary International Outreach. Written by Hudson Stoddard, the 80 page illustrated journal will be mailed to members soon, and extra copies will be available at the Society office and library. The journal summarizes a number of the humanitarian and international interests of several New Canaan residents as prime examples of what has been accomplished during the past fifty years.

"I Remember the Old Town Farm" is our newly published 2006 annual which chronicles what life was like, a century ago, living on a somewhat typical small farm in Connecticut. The fact that this farm was the local Town Farm, i.e. "poor farm", provides added interest in showing how such individuals fared and were care for in that era.  The author's insight into the day-to-day activities of agrarian life in the early years of the 1900s (including home life during World War I) is evident as you read her account. The story was written by Isabel Bouton, Lane, Raymond, Moore and transposed by Roger Bouton Lane.

The Harvard Five in New Canaan by William D. Earls A.I.A is a recently published history of mid-century houses in our town.  The book focuses mainly on the famed "Harvard Five" architects who built many homes in the post-World War II era: Philip Johnson, Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, John Johansen and Eliot Noyes.  Other architects depicted in the book include New Canaan's John Black Lee and Victor Christ-Janer. Work by prominent architect Frank Lloyd Wright is also featured. The book serves as a virtual Modern House Tour - the first section features writing and perspective on basic history of the homes and architects. Included in the pages are a wealth of photos, floor plans and drawings, punctuated with notes and quotes for each house. Photographs came from the Historical Society, private and university collections, and from the photographers' own collections.

Mary J. Kelley and the Little Red Schoolhouse, is our Annual published in 2004.  Mary Kelley, the last teacher in the one room schoolhouse on Carter Street, taught there for 47 years from 1910 until the school's closure in 1957.  The booklet was compiled by Robert W. P. Cutler, M.D. who attended the school for five years from 1938 through 1943. Accepting the Society's request to get in touch with a number of his former schoolhouse classmates and ask for their memories and impressions of early school days at the Little Red Schoolhouse.  Dr. Cutler offered to assemble and consolidate the many reminiscences he received.  This wonderful booklet of student recollections, illustrated with many photos, is now available at the Society's library.

Philip Johnson in New Canaan, the Society's 1986 Annual publication, was devoted to Mr. Johnson's contributions to New Canaan's architectural scene in the course of his long residence in town.  The Annual includes reminiscences of two of Mr. Johnson's early associates - Landes Gores and Richard Foster - both of whom played roles in the completion of the Glass House as well as later local Johnson-designed houses.  Over the years Johnson added to the Glass House property with art and sculpture galleries, a library, and a building at the estate's gate, intended to serve as a visitors' entrance.  The booklet includes photos of these modernistic buildings.  The Johnson compound was willed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which will operate the property as a museum in the future.

A Child's Walking Tour of New Canaan is a marvelous new addition to the Society's publications.  The booklet is a historical walking tour, geared toward children, to discover New Canaan's history and learn what life was like in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.   There are stories and photos of buildings along the route which begins at 13 Oenoke Ridge.   The walk follows Oenoke Ridge down Main Street, turns right onto Elm, then right onto Park Street and ends back up at the Historical Society.  A marvelous walk to take with your family on a lovely day!  For sale in the Town House library.

Recollections of a Most Worldly Neighbor, John McDiarmid 1911-1982, the Society's annual published in 2004, was produced in recognition of fifty years of the observation of United Nations Day in the Town of New Canaan.  The day is observed under Proclamations of the President of the United States, the State of Connecticut and the New Canaan Town government.  Editors Tanis K. Erdmann and Hudson Stoddard produced this exceptional Annual.  In the year when the Society's programs relate to New Canaanites with international interests and influence, the publication recognizes John McDiarmid as one of New Canaan's outstanding internationalists.

Reflections By Charlotte and David Brown was published in 2003 and is now available in our library.  This publication is the personal story of the two doctors, Charlotte and David Brown, and their wonderful experiences in caring for the people of New Canaan.  There are fifty essays dating from 1951, when medicine was a part of a different world.  The book is a personal glimpse into a time when doctors still made house calls and played many roles: that of confidant, scientist and caregiver.  The book is a reflection on the town as well as the story of the compassion of New Canaan's pre-eminent medical couple.  The book was designed by Bruce Macdonald, longtime supporter of the Society whose wife, Sunny, was President of the Society from 1990 to 1995.

New Canaan: Texture of a Community 1950-2000 continues the story of the town's history from the end of Mary Louise King's Portrait of New Canaan in 1951 up to the present day.   A distinguished group of authors have researched and written chapters on health, business, writers, art, sports and other topics in this fascinating study of New Canaan's history.   The spectacular book jacket art is taken from a painting by New Canaan artist, Virginia Taylor.   Edited by David Finnie and dedicated to Mary Louise King, Texture of a Community will be a treasure for New Canaanites' libraries.

A Guide to God's Acre is our 1997 annual - a guide to a neighborhood walking tour of the Historic District is based on the original "Landmark Tour" which was prepared by Mary Louise King, who often conducted tours embellishing this script. This current presentation includes houses which are officially part of the Historic District, as well as neighboring structures of significance. The District includes buildings surrounding God's Acre and was formed with the purpose of preserving the historical nature of the center of the Town.

"My Impressions of the Hour", the Society's annual published in 1998, is a journal written by an early New Canaan teacher.  Margaret Mary Corrigan began writing in her "diary" one hundred years ago and recorded her reactions to her daily life as a teacher.  Beginning in 1897, Miss Corrigan taught in three of New Canaan's one-room schools over a four year period. Interspersed among the diary's excerpts are reflections that she wrote as she read her journal forty years later. The journal gives a fascinating perspective both on the state of education in small district schools of that era and on the young lady herself, as she struggled valiantly to improve her own education. The Society is indebted to Mr. Walter Korfman who generously donated Miss Corrigan's diary.

The above publications, along with numerous annuals published in past years, may be purchased in the Society's library.