"This is a hands-on museum," Justin Greenfeld told FOX61. He was talking about DEEP 6 Arcade, the arcade, bar and restaurant he co-owns with Kyle Corcoran in Station House Square, across from the Stratford train station. Corcoran called it "a time machine."
The description fits more of Main Street than one game room. On Saturday, October 17, Stratford's America250 program brings the 250th anniversary of 1776 to two colonial burying grounds near the town center, with costumed re-enactors standing at patriots' graves. At noon the same day, the Town's Great Pumpkin Festival opens at Boothe Memorial Park, a park built from the collection two eccentric brothers left behind. Taken in order, from the 1600s to the pinball era, the day is a walk through three kinds of museum along one road.
11 a.m.: The Burying Grounds Open
The America250 events list gives the Burying Ground Tours a window of 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Christ Church and Congregational Church burying grounds. The Stratford Historical Society, Christ Episcopal Church and First Congregational Church are running it together.
The two grounds are close to each other but feel different.
Christ Episcopal Church's burying ground sits on Monument Place, behind St. James Catholic Church. A fence surrounds it, and Columbia University, which began as Kings College, donated a plaque there. The plaque honors two of the college's early presidents, Samuel Johnson, the first rector of Christ Church, and his son William Samuel Johnson, who helped frame and signed the Constitution and became Connecticut's first senator. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., costumed re-enactors will stand at patriots' graves and talk about the soldiers' lives and service. Rev. Ebenezer Kneeland and William Samuel Johnson will appear in character as well.
The Old Congregational Burying Ground at 2203 Main St. was established in 1678. It is the oldest burying ground still standing in Stratford, and it sits between the library and Sterling House. Look for the iron entrance gate on the park side of the stone wall and a plaque from the Mary Silliman Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Guides will be on hand there during the same hours.
The formal part starts at 1 p.m. at Christ Church. The Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard, in full dress, will mark the graves of Abijah Beardslee, Col. Aaron Benjamin, John Fairchild, Jeremiah Curtiss and Curtiss Beardslee. The ceremony closes with Taps and a musket volley salute. The group then walks to the First Congregational graveyard to honor Captain Ebenezer Coe, Jr., Private Samuel Wells Southworth, Lieutenant Stephen Wells and Rev. Izrahiah.
Parking is limited. Organizers suggest street parking on Elm Street and Academy Hill Road, the Christ Church and St. James lots, and the library and Baldwin Center lot for the Congregational ground. If it rains, the tours move to October 24, 1 to 3 p.m. For more background on the families buried here, see our post on Stratford's heritage and history.
Noon: Boothe Park, a Museum Two Brothers Built
The Great Pumpkin Festival runs from noon to 4 p.m. at Boothe Memorial Park, 5800 Main St., about 3,600 address numbers up Main Street from the Congregational burying ground. The Town lists a pumpkin carving contest, costume parade, food, a DJ, an inflatable maze, hayrides, a magic show, face painting and characters. This year it also hosts Public Safety Day, with safety demos, Touch-A-Truck and giveaways.
The setting is the bigger story. David and Stephen Boothe grew up in the family homestead on this land. The Friends of Boothe Memorial Park describe them as inventive, eccentric entrepreneurs who turned their farm into the odd collection of buildings that stands there today. David was the builder and showman. Stephen traveled widely and brought home the unusual objects that fill the museum. The brothers wrote identical wills leaving their land and buildings to Stratford for a public park, and it opened in 1955.
Here is what is on the grounds:
- The Boothe Homestead, Carriage Barn and Americana Barn, which the Town calls the Americana Museum
- The Clocktower Museum and the Blacksmith Shop
- The Technocratic Cathedral, built from interlocking redwood beams
- Putney Chapel and the Stratford Veterans Museum, which is in the Boothe Summer Cottage
- A Merritt Parkway toll booth, plus a miniature lighthouse, a windmill, a trolley station, an organ house, an ice house, an outhouse and a planetarium
- The Rose and Wedding Garden
"Historic Buildings" is on the festival's activity list, but the Town doesn't say which interiors will be open. The posted tour seasons don't agree either. The Friends of Boothe say guided Homestead tours and self-guided museum buildings run from Memorial Day to Labor Day. One Town page says tours run May through October. Plan for the grounds and the outside of the buildings, and count anything you see indoors as a bonus.
The festival's rain date is Sunday, October 18. The carving contest instructions tell entrants to arrive on October 18, so anyone entering a pumpkin should check the date with the Town. To register, email [email protected] with "Pumpkin Carving Contest" in the subject line.
After Dark: 2505 Main Street
The third museum is the newest one. FOX61 reported that DEEP 6 Arcade opened after a year of planning and building. The games run from Mrs. Pac-Man to Mortal Kombat, and there are plenty of vintage pinball machines. Greenfeld put the count at 65 titles and climbing. It's open every day except Tuesday, serves a bar-style food menu, and the coin-op games run on tokens. The arcade's own site lists a full kitchen and a bar with beer, wine and cocktails. It also notes a large parking lot out back, which helps on a day when the historic center's lots will be full. Doors open at 3:30 p.m. on the weekdays it lists, so check its posted Saturday hours before you go.
Greenfeld told FOX61 why the machines matter to him. "The tactile use of pinball machines and how you feel the ball bumping around or the control panel on 'Defender' is so unique that you can't reproduce those things." It's the same reason re-enactors stand at actual graves.
The Day in Order
| Time | Stop | Where | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 a.m. | Country Store Fair and Tag Sale | Grace Lutheran Church, 150 Chapel St. | Community-posted listing |
| 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Burying Ground Tours with re-enactors | Christ Church grounds on Monument Place and the Congregational ground at 2203 Main St. | Rain date October 24, 1 to 3 p.m. |
| 1 p.m. | Patriot grave-marking ceremony | Starts at Christ Church, then moves to the Congregational ground | Taps and musket volley |
| Noon to 4 p.m. | Great Pumpkin Festival and Public Safety Day | Boothe Memorial Park, 5800 Main St. | Rain date October 18 |
| Evening | DEEP 6 Arcade | 2505 Main St., Station House Square | Closed Tuesdays, rear lot |
The burying grounds and the festival overlap, so it's hard to make both the 1 p.m. ceremony and an early arrival at Boothe. Some events here come from community-posted Patch listings, which Patch suggests confirming with the organizers before you go.
The Fourth Museum Is Still Being Collected
Stratford's America250 calendar has one more event. The Veterans Day parade steps off at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 7, from Town Hall at 2725 Main St. and ends at Academy Hill. The Town also runs an ongoing project called Stratford Stories, an oral history collection. It invites people to describe moments that matter to them, like a school game, a favorite park or a holiday event. The stories go into the Stratford Historical Society's archives. The Society collects colonial history at the burying grounds and the Boothe brothers left their own collection, and Stratford Stories asks people living here now to add to the record.
The rest of October fills in around those dates:
- October 18, 2 to 3:30 p.m.: Author Claude Clayton Smith at Perry House, hosted by the Stratford Library
- October 23, 7 to 10 p.m.: My Friend Abby's "Share Your Light" event at Two Roads Brewery, 1700 Stratford Ave.
- October 24, 9 a.m. to noon: Stratford Rotary's paper-shredding and electronics collection at 1000 W. Broad St.
- October 24, 2 to 3:30 p.m.: An all-ages meet-and-greet with the Stratford Fire Department in the library's Lovell Room
- October 29, 6 p.m.: A houseplant swap and community seed share in the library lobby
For a quick bite between stops, CTbites' October roundup lists a new Great American Street Food Company location at 940 Ferry Blvd. The season wraps up on Friday, November 27, with the Holiday Market on the Town Hall Green from 2 to 6:30 p.m. and the tree lighting at 5 p.m. For more on the shoreline side of town, see our guide to Stratford's beaches and boardwalks or our Stratford neighborhood page.
If you go to the burying grounds on the 17th or record a story for Stratford Stories, we'd love to hear which patriot or memory stayed with you. Mary Beth Grasso and the team are always happy to talk about Stratford's history, from Academy Hill to Boothe Park. Contact Us any time.
