Mission:
The purpose of the Burlington Historical Society is to instill in the community a sense of pride and interest in its town history, to preserve its history and keep alive its traditions and heritage.
The Society works to encourage preservation of historic structures and to discover, collect, preserve and make available for scholarly use any printed materials and objects related to the history of the Town of Burlington. The Society maintains and operates the Elton Tavern. In the past few years, the Burlington Historical Society has enhanced period rooms and painted the tavern interior. With grants from the Bristol Brass Foundation, the Burlington Fund of the Hartford Foundation and the James Parker Trust, it has completed a chimney renovation project. Now, fires can glow again in all seven fireplaces.

In addition, the Society has offered a series of programs on local history. There have been programs on genealogy, the Nepaug Reservoir, early taverns in the Burlington -Farmington area, and our own town resident Silas Brooks. Twice, we have held exciting appraisal nights, where local residents discovered the value of their family heirlooms.
In early September of each year the Historical Society welcomes more than 1000 visitors to tour the tavern free on Tavern Day. Visitors can find treasures at the tag sale located in the barn behind the house. Exhibits and demonstrations of historic crafts are provided throughout the day.

The Burlington Historical Society hopes to work with state and regional organizations to bring additional funding to Burlington for historic renovation and educational projects. The Society envisions the future of the Elton Tavern as a community museum that tells Burlington's story, a destination for both townspeople and visitors. It plans rooms that will bring to life Burlington's own past - from the earliest days when Giles Griswold built the tavern as the most elegant house in town, through the tavern's days at the crossroads of a town that produced muskets, clocks, and baby carriages, to a return to a quieter agricultural life.