Museums, Galleries, Performing Arts

Railroad Museum of New England (Thomaston) 

242 E Main St. | 860-283-7245

Historic Thomaston Station, featured in the Leonardi DiCaprio-Kate Winslet film “Revolutionary Road,” is home to the RMNE, which has operated tourist trains since the 1990s. Diesel locomotives pulling vintage coaches take passengers south on the former Naugatuck Railroad to the Waterville section of Waterbury, and then back, rolling through scenic sections of the Naugatuck River Valley and past remnants of the region’s industrial past. The trains pass by Thomaston Station for a dramatic final flourish—a slow glide across the towering Thomaston Dam. A newer route takes riders north to Torrington, and there are lots of seasonal and special events.

Litchfield Community Center Summer Concert Series

421 Bantam Rd. | 860-567-8302

Each summer, the Litchfield Community Center sponsors a concert series with popular region bands offering a diverse variety of music. It’s also the home of the Litchfield Hills Farm Fresh Market in the late fall, winter, and spring, and hosts lots of other events, including a popular Brewfest.

Concerts on the Green

860-567-7569

The town’s Park & Recreation Department sponsors Wednesday evening concerts on the Litchfield Green in the summer. In 2020, Park & Rec partnered with area restaurants in businesses, which offered discount and specials for the concerts.

Bantam Cinema & Arts Center Inc.

115 Bantam Lake Rd. | 860-567-0006

A nonprofit organization revived the former Bantam Cinema with a diverse program of films, including new first-run movies,, theater, music and visual arts that seeks to inspire, educate, and engage its audience.

amArtHouse

1062 Bantam Rd. | 212-696-1807

amArtHouse is a new gallery in Bantam, located in a 1775 Colonial and dedicated to curating Contemporary Art, founded by Artur Matuszewski, an immigrant from Milanowek, Poland.

Northfield Historical Society

38 Main St. (Northfield) St. | 860-283-8176

The village of Northfield, bordering Thomaston and Harwinton, is known for the Northfield Knife Company (1858-1926), whose ruins were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. The Knife Shop Dam and waterfall are a scenic attraction. The Northfield Historical Society has a display case in the local Gilbert Library, home to its archives.

Milton Historic District

The Milton Historic District, four miles northwest of Litchfield Center, features churches, schools, a former water power site, and houses in the village of Milton that include examples of pre-Revolutionary War architecture and later 19th-century structures, remaining in their original relationship to one another. The centerpiece is the Common, unimproved land at the intersection of Milton Road with Headquarters and Shearshop roads. Activity in the historic district is overseen by the Milton Historic District Commission.

Bantam Historical Society

The Bantam Historical Society has acquired and preserved old glass plate negatives, photographs, post cards, signs, documents, and other local memorabilia. Displays are presented at the Bantam Borough Hall, and arrangements can be made to view the entire collection. The historical society created a display at Bantam River Park with a 19th century carriage built in Bantam by the Flynn & Doyle carriage-making factory (859 Bantam Rd. on the site of the United Methodist Church of Bantam, destroyed by the 1989 tornado).

tapping-reeve-house-and-meadow-for-web-by-Lindsey-Victoria-Photography-4072

Tapping Reeve House and Litchfield Law School

82 South St. | 860-567-4501

The Tapping Reeve House and Litchfield Law School takes visitors on a journey through the 19th century life of a real student who came to Litchfield for an education at the Litchfield Law School—the nation’s first law school—or the Litchfield Female Academy. Touring the school showcases the evolution of law education and instruction, while exploring how Litchfield became home to such a valuable institution.

Litchfield Historical Society

7 South St. | 860-567-4501

The Litchfield Historical Society is dedicated to presenting the history of the town through dynamic exhibits, diverse programs, growing collections, and innovative research. The Historical Society is comprised of the Litchfield History Museum, the Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library, the Tapping Reeve House and Litchfield Law School, and the Tapping Reeve Meadow. The historical society is open to the public free of charge and presents rotating exhibits.