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The Madison Historical Society opens its doors to both members and visitors, from its home at the Allis-Bushnell House, located on the historic Boston Post Road in the heart of the charming coastal Connecticut town of Madison.
Built circa 1785, the Allis-Bushnell House is named for the two families who lived in the house in its early years. The most famous of its inhabitants was Cornelius Scranton Bushnell, born in the Bushnell homestead in 1828. Later the first sponsor of the building of the famed Civil War-era ironclad ship, the USS Monitor, Bushnell was also among the original organizers of the Union Pacific Railway.
 The Allis-Bushnell House is situated on a lovely vest-pocket-sized acre that also includes an annex to the house, a corn crib, and an herb garden planted and maintained by the Garden Club of Madison. The house is open to visitors from late May through early September. Tours focus on the home's architectural and decorative features as well as on the history and contributions of the families who lived here. Visitors will see period furniture, textiles, toys, costumes, and medical, nautical, and agricultural implements among the extensive holdings displayed in the house and in its annex.
 In addition, the Madison Historical Society owns and maintains the Lee Academy, located near the Madison town green, just off the Boston Post Road. Once a country schoolhouse located elsewhere in town, the Lee Academy now houses special seasonal exhibits. Lastly, the Madison Historical Society owns and maintains the secluded Smallpox Cemetery, located a short distance from the west bank of the East River in Guilford.
 The Society offers educational programs and entertainments throughout the year for elementary school students, members, and visitors. Local history lectures, teas, special exhibitions, and field trips are among the events offered. The annual Madison Historical Society Antiques Fair, always the fourth Saturday in August, is one of the most popular events held each summer on the Madison Town Green. The MHS Education Programs include special tours for schoolchildren eager to learn the history and lifeways of people in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The Madison Historical Society’s modest library and archival collection specializes in local history and genealogy related to the towns of East Guilford, Guilford, Madison, and Killingworth, from the colonial period and onward to the present. This collection is available to researchers and scholars by appointment.
Please feel free to contact us by e-mail at
contact@madisonhistoricalsociety.org
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Madison Historical Society
853 Boston Post Road
Madison, CT 06443-3155
203.245.4567
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