Newtown Historical Society hosted an open house at its headquarters, The Matthew Curtiss House, on Sunday, September 15.

For the open house, members of The Fifth Connecticut Regiment conducted a reenactment of a revolutionary encampment.

By noon, when the open house event began, a camp was set up in the back yard of the Matthew Curtiss House and Jim Freebairn was set up to make musket balls, spoons, and buttons out of melted pewter over a fire, also in the back yard. On the house’s front lawn, Fifth Connecticut Regiment members gathered near a tent and cannon that were on display, as people began walking up to attend the open house event.

Inside the historic building at 44 Main Street, tours of the house-museum were offered by junior and senior docents, and other demonstrations were offered. Rebecca Starkins of Brookfield demonstrated period clothing, all created by hand. One item, a green silk dress with a ruffle hem detail that was “pinked” by hand, took Ms Starkins roughly eight hours to create. The hem, she said, took about five to six hours alone.

Near the house’s hearth, Newtown resident Mike Filler demonstrated surgery items that would have been used at the time of the American Revolutionary War.

Newtown Historical Society is a non-profit, all volunteer organization. During the year it offers open houses with living history demonstrations, a lecture series, and a summer history camp for kids among other special events, according to a release. All funding comes from private donations, membership dues, bequests, and fundraisers.

To join or for more information about the society, visit www.newtownhistory.org or call 203-426-5937.