Middlefield Historical Society Museum

Mid
Middlefield Historical Society Museum, Middlefield (Location)
October 2024

Connecticut museum visit #527.

The fine folks at Middlefield Historical Society redid this entire museum recently. I have no idea when they started, but my failing memory tells me it was pandemic time. And they re-opened in late 2024. I could totally be wrong, but something tells me no one is going to come for my head if I am.

We’re talkin’ Middlefield here… “The Biggest LIttle Town in Connecticut…”

Which is omething they apparently say there, but I have no idea what it means. Middlefield is the 137th most populated town in the state. Or, put differently, the 32nd least populated.

It is the 13th smallest town. Essex and New London are both smaller and, well, let’s be honest. Both have a little more going on than Middlefield.

Not that Middlefield isn’t a perfectly nice little town. But it really is the definition of mid. I mean, they tell us it is so named because it is halfway between Middletown and Durham, and Middletown and Meriden. Which, like the “biggest little” thing, that kind of makes no sense. Every town in between other towns is the middle of those two towns by definition.

Did no one point that out to them?

I wasn’t about to, as everyone was so kind as I toured the one room Historical Society Museum, housed at the town’s community center. Along with Social Services, the Senior Center, and other important Middlefield entities.

As far as small town history museums go, Middlefield’s is… mid. It’s got all the usual stuff, some corners of the one (large) room presenting no different than an elderly Middlefield lifer’s attic. But – and this is an important “but” – the signage here is way better than the small town history museum norm.

The historical society here definitely put effort in. They also keep up a fairly robust Facebook page as well, which is not super common.

What is super common is much of what was on display here: Old clothes, old military equipment from local veterans of WWI, old farming implements, an Old Leatherman shelter claim, Native American arrowheads, and other old stuff. There’s a sign suggesting some current residents may find it hard to believe that Middlefield once had things such as sheep farms and horse farms.

I do not think anyone would find that hard to believe. But what about this:

Okay, I find that hard to believe. The inventor of the butter churn was some guy from Middlefield? Weren’t people using butter churns in the Dark Ages? Let’s see what AI has to say:

The butter churn wasn’t a single “invention” but evolved from simple animal skin bags and gourds to more complex devices, with early forms dating back to 6500-5500 BC; later innovations, like the 19th-century barrel churn with paddles and hand cranks (e.g., patents by Michael Brown & Co. in 1877/1882) and Albert C. Richardson’s 1891 industrial churn, improved efficiency, making butter production easier and leading to commercialization by automating the agitation process.

Oh. Snap. And he was a “Black inventor” to boot. I wonder how the Middlefield Asian community is represented here…

Moving on.

Pistol-making was a big industry here back in Middlefield’s more industrial days. So there is a decent amount of space here dedicated to those companies that used to exist in town. Most notable was the Otis A. Smith company, founded in 1862. There’s a little sign here claiming that Smith’s factory was one of the last in Connecticut to run on water power.

The company produced unique design pocket revolvers including top-break single-action spur-trigger pocket pistols and Safety Hammerless revolvers. I have no idea what any of that means, but did you know that the first cut nails of iron in the United States were made in Middlefield in 1798?

Now you do.

You probably do know about Lyman Orchards here, but did you know about Lyman gun sights and gun accessories? The company, which is still humming along, began simply in the late 1800’s when William Lyman, an avid outdoorsman and inventor, created a product that resolved problems with gun sights of his day. The commonly used vernier sights were adequate for daytime shooting, but almost useless if lighting was not perfect. Lyman’s No. 1 Tang Sight featured a small disc and a large aperture, a combination that made the thin rim almost invisible and greatly improved the shooter’s vision. His patented design launched the Lyman Gun Sight Company, and today, the Lyman tang and receiver sights still utilize the same principles originated over 137 years ago to enhance both the sight picture and the speed of aiming.

Again, I have no idea what any of that means, but I do know that Middlefield’s town seal is seen through a gun sight, which is probably unique in the entire country.

But back to the Lymans. There were a lot of them and a sign at the museum tells of many Lyman accomplishments. The sign does not say they all lived here in Middlefield however… but Charles Elihu Lyman did something with peach trees and Connecticut was the Peach State for a little while until Charles Elihu got whacked with a New England winter in 1917 and he switched to apples. And voila, today’s Lyman Orchards.

William Worcester Lyman invented the first rotating can opener. The Lyman who invented the gun sight above also invented a rowboat with gearing that allowed hunters to face forward. There’s more, but let’s wrap this up.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the museum does note the dinosaur tracks that were found in town. There’s a little park here – Powder Hill Dinosaur Park – which is really cool and unheralded. Go check it out.

And come check out this museum, tucked away in the Middlefield Community Center next to the Senior Center. It’s run by passionate folks and you can fill in all the blanks I’ve left above.

Middlefield Historical Society
CTMQ’s Museum Visits