Newtown Historical Society is appropriately beginning its fall season with a welcome to The Little Red Schoolhouse at the Middle Gate School grounds on Sunday, September 25.

While the event will run from 11 am to 2 pm, there will be a special memorial event to honor the late Town Historian Dan Cruson at 1 o’clock. A memorial plaque and tree will be unveiled that afternoon, and the building will be dedicated to Cruson.

Newtown Historical Society’s Little Red Schoolhouse dates back to 1850 when the town’s population was barely 4,000, and the farmland was dotted with water mills, craft shops, and blacksmiths. Docents will relate stories about historic school life, as well as lead a variety of time-specific activities and games.

The historic school house will fittingly be dedicated to Cruson, who died on February 21, 2021, and is warmly remembered throughout the state as an educator, archaeologist, preservationist, researcher, and historian.

He was additionally a member of Newtown Historical Society for nearly 50 years, and served as a president and board member.

Cruson authored numerous books about Newtown and Connecticut history, and conducted several archaeological digs at Putnam Park in Bethel. He was active with the Heritage Preservation Trust of Newtown, Society of American Archaeology, and the Archaeological Society of Connecticut, for which he also served as president.

In 2005, he was chair of the Newtown Tercentennial Commission.