Oxford Historical Society

OXFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO INVESTIGATE OXFORD’S CEMETERIES AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

The Oxford Historical Society will launch its America/250 Project on Thursday, September 11, at the Twitchell-Rowland Homestead, 60 Towner Lane in Oxford at 7 p.m. Towner Lane is located off Route 67 across from St. Thomas Church.

The society plans to celebrate America’s 250 th anniversary by documenting the lives and records of Oxford’s veterans of the American Revolution for preservation in multiple formats. Volunteers of all ages are welcome as the group researches period records and locates veterans’ headstones in local cemeteries. Photographers, readers and writers, video/sound recorders and tombstone cleaners are all needed to record the information found for future generations.

America/250 may be useful for fulfilling community service, Eagle or Gold Scout, or Capstone project requirements. History buffs are especially welcome. Membership in the Oxford Historical Society is not required. Interested persons may call Dorothy DeBisschop at 203 910-4574 or simply come to the meeting.

Still to come in 2025…

Fun @ the Munn
Sunday, September 7, 2 – 4 pm

FREE drop in all-ages art exploration with simple materials. Pre-school thru senior. Children need to be accompanied by an adult. Visit the Twitchell-Rowland Homestead Museum and Munn Schoolhouse for free guided tours.

Tractor Meet
Sunday, October 5, 12 – 4 pm

Vintage farm machines and old tool displays.
Docent led museum tours.
Admission: FREE.
Twitchell Rowland Museum 60 Towner Lane

OHS Annual Meeting
Saturday November 15, 2-4 pm

Program: “Meet Mr. Jim” of Trinity University.
Refreshments. Admission: $15.
Great Hill United Methodist Church, Seymour

Twelfth Night
Sunday January 4, 2026, 2-4 pm

Holiday Open House with Refreshments
Holiday decorations by Oxford Garden Club & displays
Admission: FREE
Twitchell Rowland Museum 60 Towner Lane

The Oxford Historical Society Celebrates its 50th Anniversary

The Oxford Historical Society is celebrating its 50 th birthday this year. An informal group of history buffs met prior to 1975 with Bishop von Wettberg as their president, but it wasn’t until 1975 that the present group was legally incorporated. Jane Fertig was the first president.

Inspired by the National Bicentennial of 1976, the OHS formed a committee of volunteers to research and write Early Houses of Oxford. It was published in hardcover in time for the Bicentennial and has since been reprinted in paperback format. In 2016 under the direction of Marilyn Stebar, that book was updated and expanded with the publication Historic Buildings of Oxford, Past and Present.

The Society continued to meet, sponsoring programs on local history and on crafts such as quilts and stenciling. There were social events as well including wildly popular progressive dinners during the holidays and trips to historic sites such as Wethersfield and Sleepy Hollow. Members also continued to preserve Oxford’s past, maintaining a file in the Town Clerk’s vault and taping interviews with long-time Oxford residents.

In 2004 all that changed. The 1752 Twitchell-Rowland Homestead on Christian Street was about to be demolished to make way for a new housing development. First under the direction of President Sue Kopec and later Town Historian Dorothy DeBisschop, the Historical Society raised funds to move the house in 2006 to its present location at 60 Towner Lane on property donated by Fred and Myrtle Rowland. Four years of work by over 300 volunteers culminated in 2010 when the building opened at last as the Oxford’s first museum. In 2016, the Munn Schoolhouse was also moved to the site and restored, first directed by Mrs. De Bisschop and later by Bo Duncan. That structure too became available to the public for tours in 2025.

The Oxford Historical Society continues to work to save and to generate interest in our town’s history. The museum and schoolhouse are open on the first and third Sundays of each month for tours and a collection of historic artifacts and documents is maintained. The summer of 2025 launched craft programs in the schoolhouse: “Fun at the Munn,” taught by Bo Duncan. The very popular Fiber Festival, Peach Festival and Tractor Show at the Homestead plus the annual meeting in November featuring a speaker on state or local history all serve to educate and entertain the public about our past.

We’ve come a long way!

Fun @ the Munn

Fun @ the Munn – NEW! Join our all ages arts explorations drop in activities for pre-K through adults and seniors. Look for a selection of materials at each session and be sure to dress for mess: paint, paper, chalk, fiber (yarn and fabric, thread and buttons). Using basic skills, participants can try weaving on portable looms, sewing or knitting, your imagination is the key. We are open to suggestions.

Stop in at the Twitchell Rowland Museum for a tour of the Homestead and then investigate the newly opened Munn Schoolhouse to take part in the Fun at the Munn on first Sundays of each month. These free events run on June 1, July 6, August 3 and September 7, from 2-4 pm. While presented by Historical Society members, volunteers are welcome to help. All children must be accompanied by an adult.