Museum Rooms at Tourtellotte Memorial
High School

The original 1909 Harriet Arnold Tourtellotte Memorial Room was conceived by Mrs. Tourtellotte to honor the memory of her two daughters who died in their youth. Her art collection includes paintings, sculpture, bric-a-brac, photographs, books and furniture from her family’s home. The Tourtellotte Memorial High School was built by Dr. & Mrs. Tourtellotte and opened in 1909. The 14 acre parcel was donated by the Grosvenordale-Dale Company and the town received the school as a gift from the Tourtellotte family.

 

 

The Kenney Store and Post Office was a gift of Glynnce Kenney to honor the memory of the Kenney Family in Mechanicsville. Today, the reconstructed museum room reflects the old train depot, general store and post office from the still extant brick building, not far from the site of the now gone Mechanicsville Mill. The room also features informational panels that celebrate the ten villages that comprise modern Thompson.

 

 

The Ramsdell Transportation Collection celebrates the railroad, trolley, and shipping photographs, memorabilia and artwork collected by West Thompson native Frank Ramsdell and later his daughter Alice. Donated by Frank’s grandson, Dale King, to the Society, the collection is open by special arrangement and on key days in Thompson.  The movie ‘The Nine Lives of Number 9’ is largely based on the lives of the Ramsdell family with their locomotive, farmhouse and the rail collection housed on the  37 acre farm near the Quinebaug River.