CT Humanities grant provides free admission at five Bristol museums

Posted By: David Fortier July 6, 2022

Five Bristol museums were recently awarded grants from Connecticut Humanities to support their participation in the CT Summer at the Museum initiative, it was announced in a release from the American Clock & Watch Museum.

The CT Humanities grant invites Connecticut children ages 18 and under plus one accompanying Connecticut resident adult to visit participating museums free of charge from July 1 through Sept. 5.

Bristol museums, among more than 130 in the state participating in the program, include the following: The American Clock & Watch Museum, Bristol Historical Society, Imagine Nation (A Museum Early Learning Center), the Memorial Military Museum, and the New England Carousel.

CT Summer at the Museum involves a $15 million investment provided by the state General Assembly, with the support of Connecticut Humanities and the Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the federal ARPA.

Museums and information below

The American Clock & Watch Museum is located at 100 Maple St. The museum houses one of the largest collections of American clocks and watches in the world with approximately 6,000 timepieces in its collection. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information and to see a schedule of summer events and activities, call 860-583-6070 or go to www.clockandwatchmuseum.org.

The Bristol Historical Society has open hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays and features rotating and permanent exhibits including the Builders of Bristol room and the General Store exhibit, with a goal of preserving and interpreting Bristol’s past to provide historical context for the future. For more information, call 860-583-6309 or visit bristolhistoricalsociety.org.


Imagine Nation, A Museum Early Learning Center is located at One Pleasant St. The center offers facilitator led experiences geared for children ages 2-8. Programming includes a variety of workshops, community outreach, field trips, birthday parties, and family event opportunities. For more information and to see a schedule of summer workshops and programs visit www.imaginenation.org. In addition Imagine Nation can be found on Facebook, Imagine Nation, A Museum Early Learning Center.  For information, call 860-314-1400. The center is a division of the Boys & Girls Club of Bristol.

About Memorial Military Museum is in the same building as the Bristol Historical Society at 98 Summer St. It is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays.


The New England Carousel Museum is located at 95 Riverside Ave. The museum is dedicated to the acquisition, restoration, and preservation of operating carousels and carousel memorabilia and the creation of new carousel material, for the education and pleasure of the general public. Over 100 years of carousel art and history are on view throughout its 33,000 square foot building, including examples from turn of the century carvers like Dentzel, Herschell Spillman and Stein and Goldstein. 

The Museum of Fire History is housed on the second floor of the New England Carousel Museum. Visitors can discover a fascinating array of firefighting and fire house signaling equipment and memorabilia. Both museums are open Wednesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. There is an admission charge. For more information, call 860-585-5411 or go to www.thecarouselmuseum.org.

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