The Ridgefield Historical Society
Ridgefield Historical Society

The Ridgefield Historical Society

  • Encourages historic preservation,
  • Collects and catalogues documentary materials,
  • Provides a database of information about town history,
  • Creates publications and exhibits,
  • Records and transcribes oral histories, and
  • Offers workshops and assistance to those interested in local history.
The Scott House, RHS' headquarters

The Scott House

The Society’s headquarters is the 275 year old David Scott House, whose preservation, renovation, and restoration was completed in September 2002. The house, at 4 Sunset Lane, includes a large fireproof and waterproof archival room within a “vault” with special equipment to control the humidity and temperature for fragile documents.The headquarters also features a reception and reference room, where the public can access databases of history materials held town wide. There is also a meeting room, a library, a project room, the town historian’s office, a cataloguing area, and a kitchenette. The society welcomes volunteers to assist with its work and also welcomes members and donors to support its efforts.

Visitors entering The Peter Parley Schoolhouse

The Peter Parley Schoolhouse

The Society also operates and maintains the Peter Parley Schoolhouse, including a summer schedule of family friendly docent-guided tours.

View the Schoolhouse Events List

Mission Statement

The Society’s purpose is to preserve, interpret, and foster public knowledge of Ridgefield’s historical, cultural, and architectural heritage.

President’s Letter

“Ridgefield’s character is something precious and elusive.  Half visible, half fictional, it springs from the world of the physical – the great evenly spaced houses along Main Street, the winding roads, the hills thick with trees – but exists largely in the minds of those who left it long ago.”

Those wonderful words were written by Macklin Reid for the March 4, 1999 edition of the Ridgefield Press and reprinted in the short 2002 history of the Scott House (“A Historic House Becomes a House of History”).

Ridgefield (beautiful as she exists today) is even further enhanced by the soft memories of what she has seen over the centuries … and of what she has meant to earlier residents.

And that’s where the Historical Society fits in.

Through the tireless efforts of talented volunteers working on diverse projects, the story of Ridgefield is preserved for future generations.  The volunteers’ professionalism and dedication is much appreciated.  As are the many members and benefactors whose generous contributions make the Historical Society a reality.  Without your support, the Historical Society would not be able to function.

— Sharon Dunphy, President

Staff

Board of Directors

  • Sharon Dunphy, President
  • Sara Champion, First Vice President
  • Geoff Harrington, Second Vice President
  • Nancy Selander, Treasurer
  • Michèle Mahland, Recording Secretary
  • Betsy Reid, Corresponding Secretary
  • Kay Ables
  • Phillip Esser
  • Sue Law
  • Monica McMorran
  • Sally Sanders
  • Tracy Seem
  • Gary Singer

Contact Us

For more information on becoming a member, a volunteer, or a donor, please get in touch!

Ridgefield Historical Society
4 Sunset Lane, Ridgefield CT 06877
203-438-5821

email: info@ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org

Open to the public on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 1-5pm