Thrall Hall

Tasha Caswell, 2014

On March 18, a few people from CHS had the opportunity to tour Thrall Hall, a square dance hall in East Windsor, Connecticut. Ed Thrall, described by the Hartford Courant as a “true Connecticut Yankee original,” visited demolition sites in and around Hartford in the 1960s and salvaged materials, which he then carted back to his farm. He began building the dance hall in 1968, and it took him 10 years to build what is standing now. I learned about the place in February when I was cataloging some Richard Welling drawings. I was looking for information on one of the buildings in a drawing, and I found some information online about a place called Thrall Hall.

Nuclear Power Means Peace of Mind

Last week I was working on a short article for the CHS’s weekly history series on WNPR.org. Check out the article, “Connecticut Yankee and Millstone: 46 Years of Nuclear Power,” for a fact-based, measured, and brief history of Connecticut’s four nuclear reactors, two of which are still operating and generating nearly 50% of our state’s electrical power. It includes some great images from our collection, including photographs donated by the Hartford Electric Light Company.