We are open! Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., or by appointment. Please email mchs@wesleyan.edu, or call (860) 346-0746, to schedule a time for research.
Our current exhibit is “A Century of Devotion: The St. Sebastian Feast in Middletown, 1921-2021,” in partnership with St. Sebastian Church, Middletown.
Founded in 1901, the Middlesex County Historical Society is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of Middletown and Middlesex County and providing programs for adults and children to increase their understanding of the area’s past. Museum exhibits, walking tours, re-enactments, and a lecture series are among its many annual events.
The Historical Society is headquartered at General Mansfield House, one of the few residential structures still standing on Middletown’s Main Street. Once the home of General Joseph K.F. Mansfield, a Civil War hero who died at the battle of Antietam in 1862, the Federal brick mansion has been the home of the Historical Society since 1959.
At the museum at General Mansfield House, visitors can explore the community’s past through major exhibits, which showcase artifacts from the Historical Society’s permanent collection. Recent exhibits have examined artifacts from World War I, Middletown’s 19th-century women’s clothing, varied immigrant groups; the rise and fall of manufacturing in Middlesex County; and, death and dying from Colonial times to the present. A Vanished Port, our current exhibition, explores Middletown’s history as a colonial port.
Jesse Nasta, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Middlesex County Historical Society. He is a Middletown native, a former MCHS board member, and an Assistant Professor of the Practice in Wesleyan University’s African American Studies Department.
Thursday, February 15, 2024, 7:30pm – “The Keating Building: A Middletown Success Story” free online screening
Join us on Thursday, February 15 at 7:30pm for a free online screening of a documentary film by Peter Oberc. “The Keating Building: A Middletown Success Story” is the story of the 127-year history of the building at 180 Johnson Street, where Robert Keating made the first electric bicycles and the first motorcycles. It was later the home of the Remington Rand Noiseless Typewriter Company, then a defense plant in World War II and a early computer factory in the 1950s. After decades of neglect, the City of Middletown revitalized the building and it is enjoying a new life.
Register now at: bit.ly/keatingfilm
This event is a collaboration between the Middlesex County Historical Society, and the Middletown Commission on the Arts.
Recent Events:
Thursday, November 30, 2023 – Connecticut Industries Unite for World War II Victory: a Veterans Day presentation at the Greater Middletown Military Museum
This was a free Veterans Day presentation and book reading and signing by Sharon L. Cohen, author of Connecticut Industries Unite for WWII Victory.
Middlesex County Historical Society 
“A Vanished Port” – must see exhibit!
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Thank you!
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How did Ferry Street get it’s name?
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I assume it got its name because the Connecticut River ferry that ran back and forth between Middletown and Portland left from this street’s (one-time) intersection with the River. Perhaps someone can verify that for us?
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