The Cove Warehouse
Wethersfield Historical Society’s Maritime Museum
Beginning August 15 2026, the Cove Warehouse will be closed to the public for the remainder of the season due to pending renovations. We will publish more details about the work as they become available. Wethersfield Historical Society apologizes for any inconvenience. Renovations are expected to be completed by November and we look forward to welcoming visitors back to the Warehouse next season (Spring 2027).
The venerable Cove Warehouse on our Wethersfield Cove is said to date to the late 17th Century, but is possibly an 18th Century building. Six warehouses built in the late 17th Century on the Landing Place at the river’s edge handled Wethersfield’s brisk maritime trade. These warehouses were swept away in a massive flood, circa 1697, changing the course of the Connecticut River and creating the Wethersfield Cove. Circa 1890s to the early 20th Century, the warehouse was used by Charles Hanmer as a fish house. Restoration work was done by the local American Legion Post of the Town’s 300th Anniversary in 1934. After the 1936 flood, prisoners from the neighboring Connecticut State Prison moved the warehouse back onto a repaired foundation. It became a Wethersfield Historical Society museum in 1962. Owned by the Town, it is leased to the historical society for an annual rent of one rope of red onions.
History of the Cove Warehouses
22 September 1648 – The Town voted that Thomas Deming would have a lot on the Common, near the landing for a workyard. The Town appointed Lt. James Bosie and Nathaniel Dickenson to pick out a lot so it would ‘[not be an] anoiance to the town’. Deming built and launched the Tryall in 1649 and then moved to Long Island. Permission was given for six warehouses in the town records. The sixth warehouse may not have been built. 1. 11 March 1661-62 – A piece of land at the Common on the landing place was granted to Samuel Welles, son of Gov. Thomas Welles, ‘to set up a warehouse, and to no other use whatsoever.’ Samuel Welles resided in the Glastonbury section of Wethersfield and drowned crossing the Connecticut River in 1675. 2. 1670-71 – The Town granted to John Chester ‘a piece of land by the waterside, to build a warehouse upon’. John Chester died in 1697 and left ‘land at the landing near my brother’s warehouse’. 3. 1670-71—In the same year of John Chester’s land grant, the Town granted his brother Stephen a piece ‘of about 2 or 3 rods in breadth’ next to John Chester’s land, to build a warehouse. In 1672, at the Town’s request, Stephen Chester exchanged his piece of land for another, at the northeast side of the land he bought from Thomas Hurlbutt. The original piece of land might have been needed for a blacksmith performing ship repairs, near to the public dock. Stephen Chester died in 1705 and left a warehouse to his family. 4. December 1683 – The town gave Timothy Hyde a piece of land 40 feet square for a warehouse below Mr. Stephen Chester’s warehouse. Hyde came from Roxbury in the 1670’s and did not die in Wethersfield. He ended up in Saybrook and may not have built a warehouse. 5. August 1689 – The Town gave Joseph Rowlandson a piece of land 30 feet square below Mr. Stephen Chester’s warehouse, to build his own warehouse. Joseph was the son of Minister and Mary Rowlandson. He died in 1713 and did not own a warehouse at the time of his death. 6. December 1691 – The Town gave Nicholas Morecock a piece of land 40 feet square near Mr. Stephen Chester’s warehouse to build his own warehouse. He could also to build a wharf “against” his warehouse if he leaves a highway ‘for men cattell, or teams, to pass between said wharf and warehouse’. The wharf would be free for all people of the town. Morecock had come from England to Boston in 1635.
Inside the Cove Warehouse
The Warehouse features post and beam construction. The frame is free standing. The walls, roof, and sheeting hang on the post and the beam frame. Post and beam is an ideal building method for a warehouse because the space doesn’t require the construction of interior walls as there is no need for smaller rooms. The warehouse is all open space.
A Modern Timeline of the Cove Warehouse
1928 – Town votes to adopt a seal using a picture of the warehouse. The seal is designed by Jared B. Standish. 1931 – Warehouse donated to the town by Mrs. M. H. Newberry. 1934 – State prisoners secure the warehouse to a foundation and do minor repairs. Supervision of prisoners by American Legion. 1936 – Great flood knocks warehouse off its foundation and does extensive damage. 1971 – The Town of Wethersfield finances the construction of a protective foundation wall to prevent erosion. The approximate cost is about $10,000.