The Litchfield Historical Society was first incorporated as the Litchfield County Historical and Antiquarian Society in 1856 by citizens interested in preserving the history of their families, town, and region. The Society was an early example of the growing American desire to preserve the material aspects of what was already being seen as the glorious past. The society in 2023 is quite different from the organization envisioned by its founders.

The movement toward a formal organization began with a two-day Litchfield County Centennial, held on the Green in August of 1851. That year, Payne Kenyon Kilbourne published a history of Litchfield – A Biographical History of the County of Litchfield, Connecticut: Containing Biographical Sketches of Distinguished Native and Residents of the County.

As interest in county history increased, Litchfield resident and former Litchfield Law School student, Seth Preston Beers, began collecting early Litchfield records and documents. Sadly, Beers stored many of the papers in the basement of St. Michael’s Church where the church sexton unknowingly used them for kindling. This incident lead Beers, Kilbourne, and Litchfield Law School graduate George C. Woodruff to seek a safe place to store historic materials.

The three collaborators incorporated the Litchfield County Historical and Antiquarian Society on January 4, 1856 and began storing the collections in the attic of the Court House. The first official meeting of the LCH&AS was held on April 9, 1856. The Society continued to collect and offer periodic lectures until the early 1860s, at which time the outbreak of the Civil War led to a hiatus for the organization.

By 1890, a second group of amateur historians, this time led by Emily Noyes Vanderpoel, became interested in collecting and preserving the town’s history; their efforts lead to the incorporation of the Litchfield Historical Society. The LCH&AS was officially reorganized as the Litchfield Historical Society in August 1893. The fledgling historical society rented space in the former Bronson Store (now the Sanctum Club) on South Street and began displaying its collections for the public – for a 10 cent entrance fee. The earliest collections included “aboriginal relics” from the original LCH&AS collections, furniture, textiles, household goods, and “relics,” a category that included pieces of the Charter Oak, the brass key from the old court house, a cube of iron cut from the chains across the Hudson River and West Point, fragments of timbers and bricks from a section on Litchfield houses and stones from the Revolutionary War’s Valley Forge site.

As the collection grew, the Society sought permanent quarters. In 1899, John Arent Vanderpoel donated funds to construct the Noyes Memorial Building to house the Litchfield libraries in memory of his grandmother, Julia F. Tallmadge Noyes. The Litchfield Circulating Library Association and Wolcott Circulating Library opened in 1901 with just one room dedicated to the Litchfield Historical Society for its meetings and exhibitions. The museum collection continued to grow, collecting 18th and early 19th century objects and papers that remain the core of the historical society’s collection.

In 1905, Emily Noyes Vanderpoel funded the construction of an addition to the building in memory of her son, John Arent Vanderpoel. The new wing opened in 1907 with the dedication of a stained glass window presented by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the celebration of the “Semi-Centennial” of the LCH&AS.

In 1910, D.C. Kilbourne gifted to the Historical Society the Tapping Reeve Law School building. Since its construction and use as America’s first law school, the building has been moved to several sites around Litchfield and been used as an addition to a private home and as a local store. The school was relocated next to the Noyes Memorial Building. A formal ceremony dedicating the building was held on July 17, 1911.

The Society gained a significant collection of objects in 1919 when the Litchfield Scientific Association, organized in 1903 to collect materials and hold monthly meetings, merged with the Historical Society and transferred its collection to the museum. That same yar, the Bobbin and Lace Club of Litchfield donated their extensive collection of textiles to the Society.

In 1928, The Tapping Reeve House was left to Yale College. A small contingent suggested turning the home into a center for legal research. Yale, however, was not interested in the gift and offered to sell the building. The Historical Society seized the opportunity and purchase the property.

Using a wooden cab truck with sleight wheels, members of the Society moved the school down South Street to its original location next to the Reeve House. An extensive renovation of the Tapping Reeve house commenced. Richard Henry Dana Jr. was hired as the architect and George J. Switzer was tapped as the head contractor for the project. With the renovations complete, the Litchfield Historical Society opened the Tapping Reeve House and Law School for public tours. The house featured rooms furnished with 18th century antiques and educated visitors on the daily life of its inhabitants. In 1966 the Tapping Reeve House and Law School was declared a National Historic Landmark. In 1998, the Historical Society renovated the house and school building installing an interactive exhibit that focused on the lives and schooling of the Litchfield Law School and the Litchfield Female Academy.

The Historical Society continued to expand and grow in other areas. By 1968, the Litchfield and Wolcott Circulating Libraries merged and needed more space. The renamed Oliver Wolcott Library traded buildings with the Historical Society. The library took the Oliver Wolcott, Jr. house on South Street which had recently been given to the Historical Society, and left the entire Noyes Memorial Building to the Society. In 1991, the staff and board facilitated a large scale renovation of the building including a two story addition to the south east side of the structure.

New projects have gone beyond the walls of the museums. An ambitious online database of students of the Litchfield Law School and Litchfield Female Academy, called The Ledger, was launched to help researchers explore the many stories and connections related to the schools. In 2018, the Historical Society reimagined the property the Tapping Reeve House sits on. With six acres in the center of the Historic District, the plan incorporates elements from historic landscapes in Litchfield for interpretation and inspiration.

In 2023, the Historical Society continues to offer exhibitions of its collections and tours of the Tapping Reeve House and Law School. In addition, lectures, school tours, craft activity, and public programming have expanded the services of the Historical Society. The Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Research Library houses manuscript collection, ephemera, newspapers, and reference materials that document the Litchfield community and its residents and provides a wealth of information to researchers and scholars. With a collection of approximately 18,000 artifacts the Historical Society continues to expand its facilities.