Museums often get a bad rap as being boring. Maybe it’s the seemingly endless “educational” field trips we are dragged on as kids. Or maybe it’s the dry, stuffy air of some museums, which we admit, can be dull. One museum in Connecticut that is anything but dull is a bit of a hidden secret. Some locals don’t even know that hiding on the upper floor of the Old State House in Hartford is a museum of the weird and wacky.

The Old State House is a staple of Hartford. Completed in 1796, the building was originally an important part of Connecticut government.
Connecticut's Old State House/Google Maps
Visitors can tour the lower floors, which are pretty standard fare for a local history museum. You can enter the old legislative rooms and see relics that have been found in Connecticut. It's interesting, but not much is off-the-wall or unexpected.
Silly Goose/Google Maps
It's the building's third floor that is unique. Here stands a recreation of the Joseph Steward Museum of Curiosities.
Vance Striplin/Google Maps

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Much of the museum's collection originally belonged to local painter Joseph Steward.
Nathan Warkentin/Google Maps
Steward was an 18th-century artist who had a painting studio on the then-capitol's third floor. In 1797, he opened a museum of curiosities in his painting studio. He displayed both man-made oddities like wax works and natural bizarre occurrences like a two-headed calf.

Within a few years, his museum had grown so large that it needed its own building. He opened a museum in the Talcott Mansion, the now-razed home of Governor Joseph Talcott.

After Steward passed away, the museum was relocated to State Street. It went through several proprietors. By 1840, some of the items had been lost or sold, but many were obtained by the Connecticut Historical Society. The items were gathered and displayed at the Old State House, their original home.
While the museum's collection may lack the size that it once had, there's some interesting stuff here! Check out this two-headed pig fetus.
Nathan Warkentin/Google Maps
The two-headed calf is another popular display.
Frank H/Google Maps

Have you visited the Joseph Steward Museum of Curiosities in Connecticut? Share your experiences in the comments!

 For more information about the Old State House, check out their website.

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Connecticut's Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT 06103, USA