Connecticut Landmarks’ Nathan Hale Homestead presents a unique opportunity to experience the Homestead by candlelight with the Evenings at Hale series continuing on Friday, September 7th. The Homestead will host several special historical-themed tours focusing on tavern life and ghost stories. Light refreshments, such as beer, wine, hard cider, and soft drinks will be provided at each event. There will be two tours offered each evening, the first beginning at 6 pm and the second at 8 pm. The admission is $25 per person, or $20 each for CTL members.
September 7th presents Tavern Night: Meet Benedict Arnold. Participants will experience the sights, smells, sounds, and tastes of an early American town tavern. Sample tavern fare, including bread, sausages and beer as the Hale Homestead recreates a tavern room filled with soldiers relaying their tales from the field. There is no better way to step back in time than to experience an evening in the life of an average 18th-century Connecticut citizen than to experience the tavern as they did. Food, drink, and fun await you at the Nathan Hale Homestead.
The Nathan Hale Homestead is located at 2299 South Street in Coventry, CT 06238. The Homestead is open for regular tours from May 19th through October 28th. Hours are: May, Saturday & Sunday 12 – 4 pm; June – September: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 12 – 4 pm & Sunday 11 am – 4 pm; October: Saturday 12 – 4 pm & Sunday 11 am – 4 pm. Open on Monday Holidays –Memorial Day, Labor Day and Columbus Day, and the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Admission is $7 for adults; $6 for students, teachers and seniors; $4 for children age 6-18; children under 6 and CTL members are free. Families – 2 adults with children – are $15; groups of 10 or more are $5 per person. For school groups and special curriculum-based programming, please call Beverly York, Site Administrator, at (860) 742-6917 or email, hale@ctlandmarks.org. In addition, the Homestead hosts the Coventry Regional Farmers’ Market on Sundays, 11 am to 2 pm, June through October.
About the Nathan Hale Homestead
The Hale Homestead is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the birthplace of Connecticut’s State Hero, Nathan Hale. The house, built in 1776, belonged to Nathan Hale’s parents and family, and is located on the only site he ever called home. Nathan was one of twelve children born to Richard and Elizabeth Hale.
Nathan Hale was a Yale-educated school teacher and was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Continental Army in 1775. A year later he volunteered to go behind British lines on Long Island to gather military intelligence desperately needed by General George Washington, but the British captured Hale and, when they discovered he was a spy, hanged him. He was only 21. He is famous for his alleged last words, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
In 1776 Hale’s father, Deacon Richard Hale built the new home on the family homestead which has changed little since. It’s situated on 17 acres, adjoining the 1500-acre Nathan Hale State Forest. Its furnishings include several Hale family possessions and other collections amassed by pioneer Connecticut antiquarian George Dudley Seymour, who purchased the homestead in 1914 and began a program of restoration and furnishing that is largely preserved today.
About Connecticut Landmarks
Founded in 1936 as the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society, Connecticut Landmarks is the largest statewide heritage museum organization in Connecticut. The historic landmark properties span four centuries of Connecticut history and include: the Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden, Bethlehem; the Butler-McCook House & Garden and Main Street History Center, Hartford; the Buttolph-Williams House, Wethersfield; the Hempsted Houses, New London; the Isham-Terry House, Hartford; the Nathan Hale Homestead, Coventry; the Phelps-Hatheway House & Garden, Suffield.
Connecticut Landmarks’ mission is to inspire interest and encourage learning about the American past by preserving selected historic properties, collections and stories and presenting programs that meaningfully engage the public and our communities. For more information, please visit www.ctlandmarks.org.
Evenings at Hale Calendar
Friday, September 7, 6 pm & 8 pm
Tavern Night: Meet Benedict Arnold
$25/$20 for CTL members.
Friday & Saturday, October 26 & 27, 6 pm & 8 pm
Things That Go Bump in the Night: Ghost Stories at The Homestead
$25/$20 for CTL members.