Connecticut Valley Historical museum

The Connecticut Valley Historical Society was originally a separate organization which held its meetings and housed its collections in the City Library building. By 1927, these collections, reflecting "natural, civil, military, literary, ecclesiastical and genealogical materials," had grown so large that a new Museum building was constructed. The granite building, designed by prominent local architect Max Westhoff, incorporates some of the finest architectural features of a Colonial home. The front door is a replica of the doorway from the 1755 house of Col. Josiah Dwight of Springfield. The original Dwight door was purchased in 1924 by Henry Francis duPont for his own home on Long Island. It was later moved to the duPont home at Winterthur.