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Thursday, May 13, 2010 — The Plainville Citizen
Historical tour takes in the sites of Southington’s past By Robin Lee Michel The Plainville Citizen
was a garbage dump, which was called Pigweed Park. The Village Improvement Society, an early version of the chamber, sought to clean it up, put in trees, sidewalks and monuments around the time of the U.S. Centennial,” he said. DiMauro, 53, said he has always been interested in history. From 1987 to 1997, he was town historian, the first appointed in the state after the law was passed by the Connecticut General Assembly. He was former director
of the Southington Historical Center; since April 15, he has been acting president of the historical society after the resignation of Robert W. Cusano, the longtime president. He is also well-known in the area as the former associate editor and writer for The Plainville Citizen, a contributor to The Southington Citizen, and previously, a staff writer and family living editor for The Observer newspaper. The tour will stop by the
Barnes Museum, 85 N. Main St.; however, due to time constraints, passengers will not be able to tour the former home of Amon Bradley. Philanthropist Bradley Barnes willed his 1836 home and contents to the town as a muse-
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Ken DiMauro is passionate about history, which makes him the right man to lead the Saturday, May 22 historical site tour for the Southington Historical Society. This will be the third tour led by DiMauro, who is former Southington town historian and acting president of the local historical society. The last historical tour in Southington was in the early 2000s and was a tour of Lake Compounce. This year’s event will stop at numerous sites including the town green, First Congregational Church, Barnes Museum, Root House, Clark Brothers Bolt Co., Milldale Depot and other locations. At most stops, people will remain on the bus to hear commentary. However, passengers will walk various places including the town green and Oak Hill Cemetery.
“I’ve done stories and research over the years on local history, including the buildings and sites. For example, Oak Hill Cemetery originally was the center of town. In 1724, the first meetinghouse — the Congregational Church — was established there. The current Congregational Church on Main Street is the third such meetinghouse, which opened around 1830,” he said. The bus tour is being held to raise funds and provide publicity for the Southington Historical Society, which was established in 1965 and will be celebrating its 45th anniversary this year. The building at 239 Main St. was the town library until 1974 and the historical society gained use of the building after it was determined that the Sylvia Bradley addition must be used for historical purposes. DiMauro has a wealth of fascinating facts about the town. “The town green once
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