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07/12/2017 08:45 AMThere’s much more to Centerbrook than meets the eye—much more to all of Essex—and the Essex Historical Society (EHS) hopes that a stroll around town will help reveal some hidden treasures to residents had history buffs alike. EHS’s Walking Weekend is back for its third year since the tradition was revived in 2015, and it has continued to grow in its offerings.
“The walking tours were done for many years by former town historian Don Malcarne,” said EHS Director Melissa Josefiak. “When he passed away in 2009, they stopped for a while, but in 2015 the Essex Historical Society decided to reinvigorate the program.”
That year, EHS started with tours of Essex Village and West Avenue and Prospect Street. They had several tour guides who covered the stories of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
“Public response was very encouraging,” said Josefiak. “We offer them for a variety of groups, but we concentrate the public walking tours to the last weekend of July. In 2016, Chris Pagliuco, also a former town historian, offered a walking tour of Ivoryton, too.”
This year, EHS is rounding out its offerings with a tour of Centerbrook, rounding out the organization’s motto of “three villages, two rivers, one history.”
“We’re really excited. The Community Foundation of Middlesex County is funding the tour, which is being researched by Brenda Milkofsky,” said Josefiak.
Centerbrook has many stories to share on a walking tour.
“It’s Essex’s oldest village,” said Josefiak. “History is all around us; on the tours we connect with the community and the public gets out and about. It’s beyond four walls, people learn about their neighborhoods and connect with the town’s history.
“We think of it as a little bit of light exercise with your history. The tours are about an hour, and it’s a very easy walk. There are one to two guides on each tour, and we really encourage people to interact with them and ask questions, it helps us know what people want to know about,” continued Josefiak. “History has a reputation of being very insular. When you can bring history to the public, when history can hit the streets, people are interested. People like to know their own history.”
Josefiak will lead the first tour on Friday, July 28 at 7 p.m. It leaves from the Pratt House (19 West Avenue), and will travel down West Avenue and Prospect Street. Historian and author Chris Pagliuco will lead the second tour on Saturday, July 29 at 10 a.m. It leaves from the Ivoryton Library (106 Main Street, Ivoryton), and will touch upon Ivoryton’s roots as a company town, 19th century immigration, and the area’s examples of Victorian architecture. The third tour will take place on July 29 at 1 p.m., starting at Essex Elementary School (108 Main Street, Centerbrook). Milkofsky will take attendees from the farming roots of “Center Saybrook” through its manufacturing history, situated around the Falls River. The fourth and last tour for the weekend on Sunday, July 30 at 7 p.m. will be led by Brien Reidell and Mary Ann Pleva and will meet at the Foot of Main Street, Essex. The tour will travel down Main Street in Essex and will cover the village’s 18th and 19th century maritime and shipbuilding history.
Each tour is about an hour long, open to the public, and costs $5. Tours are free for EHS members. Reservations are not needed, but participants must pay the guide at the beginning of the tour. Those interested in becoming tour guides for later walks, especially for the Centerbrook tour, should contact the Essex Historical Society. For more information visit www.essexhistory.org, or call 860-767-0681.