City: Hamden, CT

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (203) 248-6030

Address: 105 Mount Carmel Ave.

Description: Built in 1792, this charming farmhouse includes period furnishings and a sweet-smelling folk medicine herb garden. The site also features a historic 1810 cider mill barn and outhouse, and, of course, Sleeping Giant State Park is literally across the street. Walk along the river path to the remains of the stone-walled Axle Works factory, a sluiceway, and an old millpond used by factories and mills here as early as the 17th century. Jonathan was a member of the storied Dickerman family of Hamden, which includes a Civil War hero, three sisters who started an early private school for girls, several writers, a famous painter, and the founder of one of the earliest commercial vineyards in Connecticut. Today Hamden has dozens of well-preserved historic homes by architects like Henry Austin and Alice Washburn, occupied by people like authors Thornton Wilder and William Linton. The historical society’s handy book provides driving tours of the whole town.