Connecticut Landmarks has launched a new program to support the Nathan Hale Homestead, in Coventry. For just $20, individuals can help preserve and maintain this remarkable and still revolutionary historic landmark for generations to come by becoming a “Friend of Hale.”
Friends of Hale receive a beautiful button that entitles the wearer to: free admission to the Nathan Hale Homestead for the remainder of the 2012 Season; full use of the Hale Visitor Center; the member rate for special events and programs; and a 10% discount in the new Hale Museum Store. Participants receive reduced admission to many of the programs and events offered at the Homestead throughout the year, including Evenings at Hale, the Haunted Corn Maze, Hearth Cooking classes and Thanksgiving at the Homestead. Buttons are available for purchase at the Museum Store during regular museum hours and at the Homestead’s table on Sundays at the Coventry Regional Farmers’ Market.
Each year the Hale Homestead introduces thousands of Connecticut school children 18th-century life at the home of our State Hero Nathan Hale and draws thousands of in- and out-of-state visitors to the site to learn about Connecticut’s Revolutionary War period. The Homestead is also home to the Coventry Regional Farmers’ Market and is enjoyed by thousands of shoppers each Sunday who buy the best in local produce. In addition, the Homestead provides mountain bikers, trail runners, hikers, dog walkers, letter boxers and naturalists of all types, free access to the property. By becoming a Friend of Hale you can help keep this site looking its best and do your part to preserve this important piece of American history.
For more information, or to learn how you can support the Homestead in other ways, please contact the Director of Donor Development, Holly Howley, at (860) 247-8996, ext. 16 or at holly.howley@ctlandmarks.org.
The Nathan Hale Homestead is located at 2299 South Street in Coventry, CT 06238. The Homestead is open for regular tours from May through October. 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.