Reminder: Brick Paver Fundraiser for New Avon History Museum
The Avon Historical Society’s personalized brick paver fundraiser to benefit the new Avon History Museum has an initial order deadline of May 1, 2024. Orders can be made online at: https://avonhistoricalsociety.org/product/buy-a-brick/ or by requesting an order form at: 860-678-7621. Orders placed after May 1 will be for a second delivery later in 2024. A new patio will be installed with the initial order of personalized brick pavers during this summer in time for a soft opening of the museum scheduled for this fall.
In partnership with the Town of Avon, The Avon Historical Society, Inc. is renovating the 201-year old one-room schoolhouse, located at 8 East Main Street (Route 44), inside and outside! Set in Avon's original and historic center, the Avon History Museum will become a tourist attraction as well as a source of pride for the Avon community.
In order to raise the funds necessary for the interior exhibit curation, build and installation, the Society’s brick paver fundraiser began one year ago. Anyone can buy a paver and have it personalized to memorialize a loved one, a family, an ancestor, a business or themselves! There are two sizes, 4” x 8” with 3 lines or 8” x 8” with 6 lines. Gift cards are now available to give for any occasion! The pavers will be installed in a sitting area adjacent to the new museum with a little library and benches for the public’s enjoyment.
The schoolhouse was originally built in the geographic center of Avon on Country Club Road where the Avon Free Public Library stands today. For 115 years, from 1823-1938, students of West Avon were educated in this schoolhouse. It was moved to its current location in 1985 directly over the site of the original 19th century Farmington Canal which crossed Route 44 running north and south. To commemorate two centuries of the Town of Avon’s oldest-owned building, the Avon Historical Society approached the Town six years ago with a long-range vision of establishing a state-of-the art museum in the footprint of the schoolhouse. To date exterior renovations have been completed as well as the cellar to be used for archival object storage and Avon Talk Podcast studio.
The proceeds from the pavers will pay for professionally curated exhibits on the main floor. The museum will also feature an exhibit on the history of the indigenous people of this region curated by the Institute of American Indian Studies in Washington, CT.
When the museum is completed in 2025, the Town of Avon and The Avon Historical Society, as shared stewards of the property, will host a public open house. Shortly thereafter, it will be open to the public year-round. For more information on The Avon Historical Society, visit: www.avonhistoricalsociety.org