Tours 2025

Beaver Hills Tudor Tour

A walking tour of New Haven’s “Tudor Capital”! Beaver Hills is one of New Haven’s earliest planned and developed neighborhoods, and is home to some of the best examples of unique and well-preserved Tudor revival houses in the city. We will explore the heart of this neighborhood and talk in detail about a number of representative examples, chat with some homeowners about their houses, and discuss...

Tapping the Possibilities

Learn about the treatment processes we use to take the water from the Lake Whitney reservoir and turn it into reliable, high-quality drinking water.

More Than Oysters: A Walking History of "Fair Haven East"

The borough of Fair Haven East, incorporated in 1872, represents the city’s one (and only) experiment with this semi-autonomous form of local government. With much of the waterfront already built out for the oystering trade, residents sought a different approach to developing the steep, wooded hills to the east of the village. By directly electing their neighbors to serve as government officials...

New Haven's Closet: 400 Years of Queer History in the Elm City

Take a walking tour of Downtown New Haven, but seen through a queer lens. Discover a hidden history—four centuries in the making—among the nine squares in the country’s first planned city. See where Cole Porter got his kick from champagne…Doors’ front man Jim Morrison was bloodied and arrested…Bette Davis had a bumpy night…Judy and Liza played on parallel streets…Jodi Foster’s hang out the night...

Beinecke Library and Friends of Grove Street Cemetery

An introduction to the Grove Street Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark and the nation's first publicly chartered burial ground organized with streets and family plots, established in 1797. This tour will focus on the lives and legacies of Black New Haveners including William Grimes and family; John, Vashti, and Courtland Creed; Bias and Margaret Stanley; Mary Ann Goodman; the Park and Bassett...

The Path of Memory, the Space Within: From Synapses to Quantum Physics

Join visual artist Serena Scapagnini and scientist Florian Carle for a walking tour of New Haven to discover Serena’s original artworks created during her residency at the Yale Quantum Institute. The stops include installations on the New Haven Green, at the Robert B Haas Family Arts Library, and at the Yale Quantum Institute. The artworks are site-specific, composed of copper plates encapsulated...

CAES: The Nation's Oldest Agricultural Experiment Station Turns 150!

Get to know the CAES through this guided tour of the grounds and explore this renowned scientific institution! The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), established in 1875 (turning 150 years old this year!), is the first agricultural experiment station in the United States. The main mission of the CAES is research. The CAES programs exist to educate the public and to transfer new...

MakeHaven: A Hub for Makers, Artists, and Innovators

Step into MakeHaven, New Haven’s community workshop where creativity meets cutting-edge technology. Explore a space designed for artists, entrepreneurs, and hobbyists, equipped with tools for woodworking, metalworking, textiles, 3D printing, laser cutting, and more. See firsthand how materials transform—from wood cut with precision lasers to metal shaped by water. Learn how our members bring...

Alice Washburn in Westville

The first third of the 20th century is known as the era of “The Comfortable House,” a time when technological improvements and ongoing traditional styles helped bring the lifestyle of the growing American suburbs to more and more people. Designer-contractor Alice Washburn (1870-1958) was only one of many creators whose Tudors and Bungalows and Colonials in many ways still shape what we think of...