Historic Home Signs
A town feature for history buffs touring the three villages of Essex, is the abundance of signs that mark homes with the year they were built and the name of their original owner/builder.
Essex Historical Society offers the Historic House Sign Program for qualified structures in Centerbrook, Essex and Ivoryton. This program is designed to enrich understanding of the town’s past, provide insight into the growth of neighborhoods around family ties, and highlight changing architectural styles.
To date more than 300 EHS historic house signs have been issued. Each of the white wooden signs with dark green font display the name of the original or early owner(s), the date of construction, and the EHS logo.
Purchase Your House Sign
EHS offers historic signs for buildings built in or before 1970. Custom-made signs list the building’s original builder, owner, or occupant, the construction date, and feature EHS’s logo.
Signs start at $200.
Most home sign purchases will be accompanied by a copy of the title search of their home (a sequence of owners) conducted by the late Town Historian Don Malcarne, and any accompanying documents in our records.
If EHS does not have a title search in our records for your location, (mostly for homes built between 1920 and 1970) you can request an owner record for an additional $100.
Current EHS Members receive a discount on House Signs!
Located along River Road in Essex, this historic home dates to 1790 and once served as the Meadow Woods School House .
To purchase your sign, fill out and submit the form below and
pay by clicking the “Submit Payment” button.
* Please allow 4-6 weeks for production and delivery
Historic Home Sign Application Form
EHS Historic Home Signs make Great Gifts!
Remember to ORDER EARLY to allow 4-6 weeks for delivery
“At its best, preservation engages the past in a conversation with the present over a mutual concern for the future.”