Abby Epplett, Historian

In September 2023, I went on another long weekend adventure to northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. My first major stop was Rocky Hill Meeting House , a church turned museum owned by Historic New England (HNE) This is the only building out of the thirty-eight HNE properties that was never residential. Rocky Hill Meeting House was built with a vision in mind: creating a Congregationalist church in preparation for the population boom that was sure to come. A smaller meeting house had stood near the site since 1716, but the parishioners wanted bigger and better things. Reverend Samuel Webster had pastored the church since 1741 and dedicated his entire career to this one church community. He had already led the church for forty-four years when he proposed a new building for the coming revival. During construction in 1785, only two years after the end of the American Revolutionary War, this property was part of Salisbury, MA, as modern Am...

On Thursday, September 21, 2023 at 7:00 p.m., I watched the webinar Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, & Abstract Expressionism lead by Jane Oneail of Culturally Curious . I have previously watched three talks by Oneail: Revolutionary Design: Modern Architecture in New England in May 2023, George Tooker: Modern Life & Magical Realism in June 2023, and Seaside Escapes: The Art & Architecture of the New England Coast in August 2023. Just like for the past two talks, the event was sponsored by the Greater Manchester Integrated Library Cooperative or GMILCS , which describes itself as “a nonprofit consortium of public and academic libraries in New Hampshire”.

On the same day I visited Coggeshall Farm at Colt State Park and Linden Place in Bristol, RI, I made many quick history stops around the historic downtown. Throughout this sidewalk hike, I followed the Historic Bristol Walking Tours provided by Bristol Historical and Preservation Society . During the first part , I saw beautifully preserved historic buildings and monuments. In the second part, I continued down Hope Street walked through an area known as Bristol Waterfront Historic District , which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975.

During the 2025-2026 winter holiday season, I took a trip to western Michigan. During this adventure, I visited the Grand Rapids Public Museum , which is receiving its own three-part mini series. The first part featured the history of the museum, the temporary dinosaur exhibit, a permanent exhibit about the people of Grand Rapids, a permanent exhibit about animals in Michigan, and a special exhibit featuring LEGO models. The second part includes an exhibit near the planetarium, signed baseballs, a large map of Michigan, skeletons, transportation, and exhibits in the Gallaria.

This past Saturday — July 6, 2024 — I visited the Carpenter Museum at Rehoboth Antiquarian Society , which included a pair of quick history stops in the area. The museum received its name not from an occupation but a family, as the Carpenters donated towards the construction of the main museum building, which looks like an 18 th century farmhouse.

During my trip to Philadelphia, PA, I spent time walking around the historic portion of the city. Because this is one of the most politically significant locations in the modern world, the streets are lined with informational signage, and nearly every building had a plaque. This miniseries of quick history stops will have four parts. The first part covered a bank building, a Quaker meeting house, a fire station dedicated to Benjamin Franklin, a cemetery, and a very old alley. This second part will cover a historic house possibly belonging to a Founding Mother, commercial buildings from the Industrial Revolution, and a courtyard showcasing local history.

On the same street as Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme Historical Society wrote a self-guided walking tour available on their website . This tour provided brief histories and custom watercolor illustrations of buildings. While an audio tour would have been easier to follow, the tour was straightforward and gave plenty of information without requiring too much reading. Sidewalks for most of the route allowed visitors to safely traverse the fairly quiet center of town.