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THE HURD HOUSE:
“MANY A WONDERFUL DAY” IN OLD WOODBURY
By Max H. Peters

The Hurd House is actually a combination of two smaller houses: the older, north section, dates to around 1680; the south section to about 1718. The older section is attributed to John Hurd, the town’s miller; the southern section may have belonged to his son. The house was continuously lived in by the Hurd Family and then the Skelly family until 1967, when it was acquired by the Old Woodbury Historical Society. In 2013, Denise Mastrio posted this on the Historic Buildings of Connecticut website: “My Grandfather was raised in the Hurd house, from age 1 to 5, by his childless married cousin Mamie Skelley after the death of his mother. We spent many a wonderful day on the property and my Grandfather took care of Mamie until her death in the early 60s. He inherited the house at that time.”

The barn was plenty busy, back in the day.	Rear view of house

The Hurd house is open to visitors Thanksgiving morning, during the Woodbury Christmas Festival in December, and June to October Sundays from 2pm to 4pm.

This size was called a "walking wheel."	Beyond the replica Colonial-era fence, children play.
This 18th century Indian basket is from the Pootatuck tribe, part of the Algonquin nation that lived in Connecticut before the arrival of Europeans.	The house is furnished with donated period antiques.

Thanks to Jamie Monckton and the other good people at the Old Woodbury Historical Society for help with this article.