Prudence Crandall Museum, Canterbury

Plan Your Visit

2024 Opening Update

The Museum opens for the season Friday, May 24, 2024!  We look forward to your visit.

*Please be advised the museum is open by timed guided tours ONLY.  [Exceptions: Open House Day 6/8 & Canterbury Old Home Day 9/28]

 

The tour is of the new exhibit Canterbury Female Boarding School: Courage, Conscience, & Continuance, and encompasses five rooms of the first floor. The second floor is inaccessable and will remain closed. 

 

The museum is not decorated as a traditional historic house museum.  Teachers, students, and supporters left precious little primary sources on how rooms were used during the time the Canterbury Female Boarding School was in operation, and few artifacts connected to the school have survived.  The new exhibit shares the stories of the school's teachers and students and demonstrates expressions of support and opposition at the town, state, national, and global levels during the tumultuous seventeen months the school remained open.  Staff are excited to share with visitors this new museum experience!


Hours

Fri / Sat / Sun / Mon     Tours at 10 am [NOTE: no 10 am tours on Sundays]; 11:30 am; 1:30 pm; 3 pm.

Tues / Wed     CLOSED

Thurs    Reserved for pre-booked groups of 10 to 15 people.  See below for more information.

Tours are limited to 15 people. Tickets can be purchased on-site, by phone with payment, on in advance through Eventbrite. Purchasing tickets in advance is strongly encouraged.

The museum is closed the following days: Memorial Day (5/29), staff development (6/3), Labor Day (9/2), and Indigenous Peoples Day (10/14).  

Admission

Adult (18-64)            $10
Senior (65 & older)    $8
Youth (6-17)                $5

Child (5 & under)        Free

Group Tour Students 8th grade-college $7

Group Tour Adult/Senior      $10

 

Special Admissions

Veteran                      $8
Student (18 & up with ID)           $5
CT School Staff (with employee ID) $5
Active Teacher (non-CT resident with ID) $5
Active Military & up to 5 family members Free

we are a Blue Star Museum

The Prudence Crandall Museum is a Blue Star Museum. Military ID holder and up to 5 family members are FREE.

As part of the Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor, the Prudence Crandall Museum offers an official National Park Service Passport stamp.


Address 

Location for GPS: 1 S. Canterbury Road, Canterbury, CT 06331

Free Parking; overflow parking across rte. 169 behind church
[Please Note: for Canterbury Old Home Day, Saturday, September 28, 2024, parking is available at the Dr. Helen Baldwin Middle School with free shuttle service all day.]

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 58 Canterbury, CT 06331

Before You Visit

  • The Peace Garden includes benches and picnic tables (we do not regularly clean these benches or tables). Please use the trash bin. The Peace Garden is open for public use at all times with no fee.
  • The museum has one restroom, and it is accessible.
  • Please arrive as close to your tour time as possible as there are no indoor waiting areas. The Peace Garden is a welcome space in nice weather.
  • Late arrivals will not be admitted 10 minutes past the start of the tour time. Refunds will not be given to late arrivals.  
  • Admissions can be purchased on-site at the front desk, by phone with payment or on-line through Eventbrite.
  • The museum is not a self-guided experience. [Exceptions: Open House Day 6/8 & Canterbury Old Home Day 9/28]
  • Tours are limited to 15 people.
  • The museum is not decorated as a traditional house museum.
  • Masks are welcome and optional.

Accessibility

  • There is an accessible parking lot for a vehicle or van.
  • A new ramp leads to the museum's main entrance.
  • The second floor is closed to the public; the first floor is accessible.
  • The museum has one restroom, and it is accessible.
  • In the Peace Garden, the Peace Pole includes ASL and Braille. 

 

Student and Organization Group Visits

Eighth-grade through college classes can sign up for standard group visits. 

The Museum has reserved Thursdays for pre-booked groups of 10-15 people.  Private group tours scheduled on Thursdays or after hours will incur an increased cost (see admissons above).  Groups are welcome to purchase regularly-priced tour tickets for standard tour times at no added cost Friday--Monday.

Please contact Museum Curator Joan DiMartino to book a field trip / group visit or learn more. Joan.DiMartino@ct.gov  |  860-546-7800.

Learn more about the museum and the surrounding area at CTvisit.com