With his gaze turned toward Sandy Hook Center, Sandy Hook Organization for Prosperity (SHOP) President Joe Hemingway said, "There used to be a mill here, the building was huge." The building's size was "amazing," he said. A dam across the Pootatuck River was also outside the mill, but like the building, it is gone now, allowing the river to burble along beneath a footbridge.

Pointing toward a Church Hill Road bridge at the intersection with Washington Avenue, he indicated Nick's Chilled and Distilled liquor store, sitting on a wall directly above the water. The multistory mill once stood on that corner, covering the entire block now occupied by the liquor store, Sandy Hook Hair Company, and Sandy Hook Deli & Catering. In a series of old photographs courtesy of Town Historian Dan Cruson, the mill looms over the intersection and river.

These and other images of Sandy Hook Center will contribute to a Museum in the Streets - photos and information set on plaques at various downtown locations offering a quick history lesson and glimpse into Sandy Hook's past. A Maine-based initiative, Museum in the Streets works "closely with town historical societies," according to its website, themuseuminthestreets.com. "We design free walking tours that foster a sense of historical identity, educate, encourage preservation of local historic sites and promote knowledge of stories, events and traditions. Our historical panels, rich with local archival imagery, are installed in cities and towns around the United States and Europe."

With a poster reading "Museum In Our Streets" and describing the Sandy Hook project, Mr Hemingway said he will be kicking off a fundraising effort this weekend. His goal is to raise at least $15,000 to pay for plaques - one a main directory of all plaque locations, and individual plaques placed throughout the center.

Residents will find Mr Hemingway and his informational poster outside the liquor store on Saturday evening, December 3, during the annual tree-lighting celebration. He and other SHOP members will be selling raffle tickets to a gift basket donated by Nick's Chilled and Distilled, and accepting donations. Checks can be made out to SHOP, and dropped off at Nick's Chilled and Distilled, after the tree lighting, Mr Hemingway said the 16th Annual Sandy Hook Tree Lighting runs from 4 to 7 pm in Sandy Hook Center. The evening is sponsored by SHOP.

This SHOP initiative has received some seed money - $4,000 from Newtown Savings Bank. Mr Hemingway envisions the end result will offer a "walking tour through the village with pictures and essays showing some buildings that are still there, like The Foundry Kitchen and Tavern, and the United Methodist Church, and some that are no longer [standing] like the Mill factory that was on the corner by the bridge … there are hundreds of old photos we are working with and we will narrow it down."

After an initial meeting with Mr Cruson, "we went through binders and binders of photos," Mr Hemingway said. "Some buildings don't look any different," and are the same scene as today but with a horse and buggy in the street, or cars from the 1940s or 50s, he said.

Designed to bring people to Sandy Hook Center, the poster states that SHOP "seeks to promote the Village as a family-friendly, pedestrian-oriented community which celebrates Sandy Hook's unique historic heritage and beautiful natural setting."

According to information printed on the poster, Sandy Hook "was the first settlement beyond the village of Newtown; the quaint settlement that we know now started to form shortly after the first gristmill was built on the Pootatuck River to utilize the water power … The village center businesses opened to serve the workers that located here to run the industrial endeavors that followed."

SHOP is currently working with Museum in the Streets and the Newtown Historical Society on a project that will "tell our story through the images selected from archives. We feel Sandy Hook Village is a unique place, and we look forward to sharing our history," the poster states.

Mr Hemingway imagines the project will include roughly a dozen plaques covering a loop beginning on Glen Road at the footbridge crossing to Dayton Street.

Mr Cruson said the concept is similar to Museum in the Streets projects in place on Danbury and Ridgefield Main Streets.

"They're essentially a walking tour of Main Street in both towns, and it takes old photographs and mounts them on a plaque and you can see then, and today, and read about the history," he said. Mr Cruson will be borrowing information he has about Sandy Hook to contribute to this project.

He also mentioned the old mill "on the banks of the Pootatuck," which was torn down in 1926. The upcoming project "concentrates on buildings still standing," he said.

Sandy Hook "was the business/manufacturing center, and Sandy Hook grew as a village to support the industry," he said. Business was "dependent on the river and had the water there to power the mills. The rest of Sandy Hook grew up to support that history."

Museum in the Streets is "an innovative concept to promote awareness of our cultural heritage and develop tourism," Mr Hemingway's poster states.