If
you drive by the town green Route 66, you will notice a white building next to
the library. This is the Old Town Hall. It used to be the Town Hall
at Hebron, Connecticut before the new town hall was built on Route 85.
Now, the Old Town Hall includes many historical artifacts serves as a museum
for the town community. Various Boy Scouts throughout the years have
dedicated their time and service to help the Historical Society repair and
upkeep various parts of the building. The Historical Society has maintained
the Old Town Hall since the town of Hebron gave the Society the rights to the
building in the 1960’s.
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| Boy Scouts repair the Old Town Hall building |
But what is the
history of the Old Town Hall? When was
the building first erected? It was the
Methodists who were responsible for providing Hebron with its first site for
town meetings. In 1828, the Methodists
decided to hold services in the center of town.
They chipped in around $100 while the town of Hebron paid $260 toward
the construction of a second floor on the new Hebron Center School. This upper section of the school house was to
be shared by the church for its religious gatherings and the town for its town
meetings.
The shared
building worked for ten years until the Methodists decided they wanted their
own church, which would be their third meeting place since coming to
Hebron. The Methodists built their new
church a few hundred feet east of the Hebron Center School. The deed for their church is in the Hebron
Land Records, filed with the town for December 1st, 1838.
In 1845, the upper
floor framing let go during a town meeting held at the Center School, and the
town was then without a meeting place.
The Methodists offered the basement of their new church for the town
meetings. Around 1850, the Methodists
broke apart. They also had constructed
another new meeting house, effectively disbanding the 1838 building they used
as their church.
In 1859, the town
Selectmen of Hebron negotiated with the Methodist Society to purchase the 1838
building to use as the Town Hall. The
old Methodist Church was negotiated for $650.
Around 1863, the possession of the deed secured the building for the
town of Hebron.
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| The Old Town Hall |
At the end of the
19th Century and into the beginning of 20th Century, the
Old Town Hall had some memorable moments in history. In 1875, the building was somehow lowered
from its original two-story to a story and a half. In 1928, electricity was installed into the
Town Hall. And in 1942, the hall
underwent repairs and redecoration in preparation for the commencement of
Hebron’s 8th grade students.
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| Pictures of past Hebron school years in the Old Town Hall |
Following the
building of Hebron Elementary School in 1950, the Town Hall ceased to hold its
town meetings. It was then used for
other civic organization meetings. Soon,
the Historical Society had been formed, and the members of this group started
to restore and maintain the old 1838 Methodist Church until the building became
their own.
Over the years,
the Old Town Hall has shown its wear and tear, and it was the Historical
Society who needed to upkeep the building, despite being a nonprofit
organization. The first renovations done
on the roof were in the 1990’s where cedar shingles were replaced. Although this held up for twenty plus years,
it came to a point where the roof once again needed to be replaced.
The Historical
Society in 2016 created the “Raise the Roof” Campaign where they raised money
to repair the roof once again. The money
contributions came from businesses throughout town, such as Gina Marie’s and
Ted’s, as well as through generous donations from several individuals. Within three months, $10,000 was raised in
contributions, with some businesses and individuals contributing $50 to $1000.
It was then decided
that the roof should be replaced with asphalt rather than cedar shingles. Asphalt roofs can last up to fifty years as
opposed to cedar shingles, which had lasted us roughly twenty years. Asphalt also costed much less than
cedar. With the approval from Historic
Properties Commission, it was agreed that the Old Town Hall should be replaced
with asphalt.
On August 29th,
2017 Klaus and Larsen Roofing Contractor LLC, a local roofing repair crew came to replace the roof. This video posted below shows the replacement made
on the roof, all of which was completed in a single day. The Historical Society was honored to have a
local business (Klaus and Larsen Roofing Contractor LLC) to offer a quote to repair the roof. All the hard work and fundraising seemed to
be done, except that was still more to do: paint. The exterior north and east sides of the
building are in need of prep and paint.
The campaign for the Old Town Hall continues to raise money to paint
these designated areas and maintain the building’s foundation.
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A sign from inside the Old Town Hall reads
"Burritt Mutual Savings Bank Martha Crowe Phelps Office established 1889"
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| More artifacts from inside the Old Town Hall |
If you would like
to learn more about the Historical Society’s Capitol Campaign or are
considering to give a donation to support the cause, please check out the
Hebron Historical Society’s website.
The Historical Society continues to maintain and preserve the Old Town
Hall to cherish our town’s history.
Please come and visit the Old Town Hall during the annual Maple Festival
and other Hebron events!
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| The Old Town Hall at the Hebron Maple Festival |
Also check out a video featuring the train shows at the Old Town hall from today and 1976:
Credit to Hebron Historical Society for the info on the Old Town Hall: http://hebronhistoricalsociety.org/
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