Community Open House at Wyman Tavern and Colony House Museum

Sept. 2008

Two of Keene's historic homes, the Wyman Tavern and the Horatio Colony House Museum, will be open to the public on Friday evening, October 3, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Please come feel the warmth and charm of these two historic buildings as they might have been two hundred years ago. Both museums are located on the west side of Main Street and within easy walking distance.

The Tavern, located at 339 Main Street in Keene, NH, was built by Captain Isaac Wyman in 1762 and was used as a tavern by the Wyman family for 40 years. The Reverend Zedekiah S. Barstow, the last minister hired by the town of Keene, made the tavern his home for the next 55 years. Both the Tavern and Barstow periods are represented at the museum. The Tavern was named to the National Register of Historic Places since 1972 and is maintained as a period house by the Historical Society representing the period from 1770-1820. During the open house, the Tavern will be lit by candlelight as it might have been two hundred years ago.

The Horatio Colony House Museum at 199 Main Street is a Federal style home built in 1806 by Abel Blake, son of one of Keene's first settlers. In the late 19th century, it became the home of a branch of the Colony family connected with the Faulkner & Colony Woolen Mill on West Street and the Cheshire Mill in Harrisville. Horatio Colony II was the last of the family to live in the house which is filled with original family furnishings and collections from around the world, spanning the 18th through late 19th century. The house will also be lit with candlelight as part of the Open House.

For further information about the Wyman Tavern, contact the Historical Society at 352-1895 or view its website at www.hsccnh.org. For information about the Horatio Colony House Museum call at 352-0460 or visit its website at www.horatiocolonymuseum.org.