Attractions in Wethersfield, CT

Beautiful, even in winter, but dazzling after an ice storm, the Broad Street Green – surrounded by elegant and stately old homes – is where early settlers grazed livestock. Today it’s host to dozens of magnificent specimen trees – elms, oaks, sycamores, an 1836 copper beech – some as high as 15 stories tall! Click to access a map of the green with tree specimens labeled.

The park includes open space and the cove. Originally an “oxbow” of “The Long Tidal (i.e., Connecticut) River,” Wethersfield Cove is ten feet above sea level and forty miles from Long Island Sound. Thomas Deming built his shipyard on the banks of this natural harbor, where he launched the Tryall – the first ship made in Connecticut – in 1649. The cove is a public boat launch providing access to the Connecticut River. 

Once part of a thriving commercial center, the warehouse – now housing a Wethersfield Historical Society maritime exhibit – contains reminders of the West Indies trade that flourished in Wethersfield from 1650 to 1830. Merchants exported lumber, grain, onions, salted beef, fish, and pork in exchange for salt, sugar, molasses, and rum from the Caribbean. Open mid-May through mid-October, Saturdays 10 am to 4 pm and Sundays 1 pm to 4 pm $1 for Adults, Free for children 16 and under and Society members.

When built in 1764, some derisively referred to it as “vastly grander than Solomon’s Temple.” Today, this beautiful church which graces the center of the village, is home to First Church of Christ Congregational. Members come from miles around to worship in this authentic 18th-century building, whose light-filled interior inspires all those who gather here.

The quaint, often poetic, inscriptions found on the headstones in this historic burial ground tell poignant tales of the demise of loved ones. The skills of a dozen different Connecticut Valley stone carvers are represented here. The earliest one – Leonard Chester’s table stone – dates from 1648.

This handsome brick house is filled with original furnishings, wallpapers, and painted ceilings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Jane and Howard Dunham, social and civic leaders of their day, made it their home. Open mid-May through mid-October. Saturdays 10 am to 4 pm and Sundays 1 pm to 4 pm $3 for Adults, Free for children 16 and under; Society members. Tours begin at the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center (Wethersfield Museum). 860-529-7656. The Hurlbut-Dunham House is part of the Wethersfield Historical Society.

Built for Benjamin Belden around 1715, this house – now a museum – provided the setting for Elizabeth George Speare’s award-winning novel, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which depicts a young woman’s encounter with superstition and intolerance in a 17th-century New England town. The restored kitchen contains an extensive collection of period cooking equipment. The Buttolph-Williams House (a property of Connecticut Landmarks) is open for tours Thursday through Saturday at 10 am. Buttolph-Williams House tours leave from the Webb Deane Stevens Museum. Please arrive 10 minutes early to purchase tickets. Tours are available from May through October. Admission is $10 per person. For more information, call 860-529-0612, email for more information, or visit the Webb Deane Stevens Museum website.

While George Washington is perhaps the most famous visitor to the Joseph Webb House, he also visited the Silas Deane House. Both remarkable houses are National Historic Landmarks, and with the Isaac Stevens House, form the core of the collections at the Webb Deane Stevens Museum. Owned by The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The State of Connecticut (NSCDA-CT) since 1919, the Museum is situated on eight beautiful acres that include three 18th-century houses and furnishings, period outbuildings, a colonial revival garden, and the Webb Barn – a popular place for weddings and other social gatherings. The state-of-the-art Holcombe Education Center at the Museum offers year-round programming. Additionally, the Holcombe Center houses Museum exhibitions and public meeting spaces available for rent. Hours: The museum and gift shop are open May through October, Tuesday through Saturday 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday 1 pm to 4 pm. Seasonal hours will be posted on the Museum website as they become available. For more information, call 860-529-0612, email for more information, or visit the Webb Deane Stevens Museum website.

The 19th-century Webb Barn is nestled on the Webb Deane Stevens Museum’s beautiful campus behind the Colonial Revival Garden, which was designed by Amy Cogswell, one of the country’s first female landscape architects, in 1921. The Webb Barn serves as a community hub for concerts, plays, lectures, and other Museum events. It is also a popular space for weddings and was named one of Hartford County’s best wedding venues in 2023 by Hartford Courant readers in 2023. To book a wedding, class reunion, corporate gathering, or other social event at the Webb Barn, call 860-529-0612, ext. 105, email for more information, or visit the Webb Deane Stevens Museum website.

The Wethersfield Museum is an excellent way to begin your tour of Old Wethersfield. Informative exhibits provide a good introduction to the town’s history. Open Monday to Saturday 10 am to 4 pm, and Sundays 1 pm to 4 pm. Museum fees – $3 for adults, free for children under 16, Society members, and Wethersfield residents. The Wethersfield Museum is part of the Wethersfield Historical Society.

The Wethersfield Academy for the Arts is a nonprofit educational organization that can be found at the Old Buck Farm located on Hartford Avenue where some of Old Wethersfield’s most beautiful homes can be seen. The Academy offers tours, family events, festive celebrations, exhibition previews, concerts, guest artist gatherings, as well as catered affairs. Keep an eye on our website calendar for upcoming events.

Built-in 1774 for a descendant of colonial governor Thomas Welles and later used as the warden’s house for the former state prison, this elegant house overlooks Wethersfield Cove and the adjacent Cove Park. Hartford’s skyline is visible on the north horizon but worlds away. The grounds are used by the Wethersfield Farmers Market spring, summer, and fall.

Colonial-era gardeners were a practical sort, not unduly concerned about matters of beauty. Gradually, interest in horticultural aesthetics grew. Wethersfield homeowners today tend gardens for food, flavor, profit, or pleasure. This generation’s gardens of note include the Webb House Colonial Revival Garden, designed by Amy Cogswell in 1921, The Heritage Herb Garden, and the Weston Rose Garden. The Webb House Colonial Revival Garden is open during regular Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum hours year-round. The garden is maintained by volunteer “Garden Angels.”

Springtime brings parades, the farmers market, Comstock’s Heirloom Seed Festival, and See You on Main Street a weekend with reenactors, a historic encampment, and more. Check the event calendar to see upcoming events.

The best way to discover the quiet beauty that Old Wethersfield has to offer is to leisurely stroll around the village. The leaf-covered brick sidewalks of Main Street will lead you past beautiful old homes, historic sites, and tree-filled parks. “Take your time” is good advice to first-time visitors. Check at the Wethersfield Museum for walking tours.

From artwork and antiques to custom-designed jewelry and hand-made crafts, you’ll find these – and other unique treasures – at a variety of small shops along Main Street. Browse to your heart’s content at Antiques on Main, Heart of the Country, House of Images Gallery, Sandra Wakeen Gallery and Neill Walsh Goldsmiths – to name a few.

The Eleanor Buck Wolf Nature Center is an environmental education facility devoted to the mission of sharing and exploring our natural world through exciting environmental learning.