Reviews of Eli Whitney Museum (Museum)

M M

Beautiful area for a walk. The Mill River, which flows through the Whitney Armory site is on its way to Long Island Sound, has played a crucial role in its history. Eli Whitney, Sr. came to the site in 1798 specifically in order to use the water's power for running machinery; sixty-two years later his son turned the river into the first public water supply for the city of New Haven. For some decades thereafter, the river continued to provide power not only for the Armory's machinery, but also for pumping its own water into the network of pipes reaching New Haven's buildings and hydrants. Eventually it gave way, as a power source, to steam engines and electric motors, but it continues to this day to supply water for the city. The low dam and waterwheels that Eli Whitney, Sr. installed made possible the Whitney Armory with its adjacent small settlement, Whitneyville. Like many another New England water-privilege site, but unlike the larger planned waterpower complexes such as Lowell or Holyoke in Massachusetts, the community remained of modest size. Constrained in large part by the natural limits on its water power, Whitneyville did not grow into an industrial city, but led him first in the 1840s to replace the waterwheels with hydraulic turbines, the latest advance in waterpower technology, and then to make the dam five times higher in 1860. The other purpose of this move - to form Lake Whitney as the as the first reservoir for the New Haven Water Company - was what paid for the construction of the dam we see at the site today. The creation of Lake Whitney in turn prevented further industrial development at waterpower sites upstream - by flooding them - thus leaving the Armory as southern Hamden's only industrial site until a later era.

Joshua Kyung

Very nice and beautiful place, jogging course!

Kenneth Smith

Great summer camp for kids

Light Service

That waterfall view is amazing. I havent been on the trail tho cuz im scared of ticks but i see people jogging into and out of it so idk -kanye shrug-

Bruno Prata Arte

They have great activities for your children!

Augustine Dunn

Great place for a trek in the woods.

Apple Imperato

Really great place for kids to hang out and educate also have fun outdoor workshop.

Hunter Smith

Catch the train exhibit until mid February... my 4 year old grandson had a blast "driving the train".

Jeffrey Cave

Excellent place to bring a child on a rain day. The young people working there were great.

Naeem Yasin

I didn't go in the museum but the waterfall was attractive

Portia Amendola

Never disappoints, Eli Whitney Museum has excellent programs for artistic expression, making, inventiveness and learning...!

Trinayaan Hariharan

Good

Maria Dudley

The staff there are so friendly and helpful. The atmosphere is inviting and it triggers a curious spark in the minds of my kids. They love it there.

Kevin McCarthy

Very cool! Did a project with Jacob and it was great

Khadija el-hazimy

Make sure to visit the back of the museum , the water fall view is incredible

Elvira Chernovetz

The museum is basically run by children. They are not trained, give wrong membership information and the few adult staff members they have are rude. Lindsey is VERY rude and Sally the owner excuses her behavior by saying she is not rude, its just her demeanor. My son was injured and the child helping us could not find a bandaid or an adult. Untrained, unorganized, RUDE and unsafe enviroment. We will not be back.

Jin Pyer

It never gets old

Rose Blake

The kids enjoyed learning about the solar system

Charles Strasser

There are too many invasive plant species on the premises!

lucresha nooks

Such a wonderful place. Will be back

Melody Wnuk

So much to see and do!

Jasmine Lyle

Great place to go for a walk or a run

Brian Jarawa gray

Crafts and a good walk

Nyurca Vega

Nice and fun place also educational

Hadas Be

Very nice place to take the kids on a rainy afternoon.

Dan Ireland

Such a unique and cool place to visit. Our son LOVED the train and the crafts projects!

Kelly Pryor

The workshops are excellent

Matthew Bleything

Awesome place for quick educational kids trip!!!

sotheados66

Beautiful New England!

Chris DeLuca

Hidden gem.

Ashley McDermott

My son went on a field trip here where I was a chaperone. We didn't tour it but had fun learning about the life cycle of a butterfly and making a cool craft.

Elissa Boss

Visiting the museum was a fun, free outing for my three year old on a rainy day. The museum is small and maintains the authentic charm of an historical building. I'm looking forward to visiting again for my daughter to take part in their variety of experiments and activities.

Andrew George

Loved it really cool train set on the inside shows the history of Connecticut in a vibrant way and the grounds are absolutely beautiful to walk on will be back

Robin Weiss

Informative and fun

Amber Cesar

Love this place

Ramon Santana

I'm if on the place

Mallory Ridley

I'm rating the grounds, not the museum itself as I've never actually been inside, nor have I seen it open. This is a beautiful place to go if you're looking for a nice place to walk! Just behind the museum the trail begins inside of an old covered bride that crosses a small river. There is a huge waterfall, a serene lake you can fish in or walk across using a small bridge that connects one side to the other. Despite being directly on Whitney Avenue it's pretty quiet and gives you the feeling of being tucked away in the woods somewhere. The grounds sit at the base of East Rock so you can easily hike up from the museum to the summit. I've never been able to find any trail markings so you've got to sort that out on your own, but it's doable.

Terrance Burroughs

A lot to see and experience

EDWARD Czernicki

Unbelievable creativity!

Federico

Hermoso lugar ! Entrada libre y gratuita, se puede apreciar un puente peatonal de madera, una caída de agua, y caminar por senderos boscosos. Hay mesas para picnic y juegos para niños. Excelente sitio para tomar fotos ! Se recomienda visitarlo.

Jed Sosnowitz

Great learning experience. Take your children there for the workshops.

Amir Shapira

The kids LOVED it (and so did I)

mamma c

It was a great hands on experience for the children. They also had a great tome. Staff very friendly and helpful.

Robert Raymond

I have been here both to learn the details of Eli Whitney's life and for the annual Christmas holiday model train display. The train display is interactive. Long time New Haven area residents will take particular joy in picking out the miniatures of old New Haven landmarks. All the model trains are vintage A.C. Gilbert made right in New Haven.

John Correia

School Kids Teaching Museum, nice but not really setup for viewing

Bob Marchetti

Very nice. Didn't realize all of Eli Whitney's accomplishments. Very impressive. Young girl in the museum was very helpful. The was an older gentleman that worked there scolding the young woman that worked there no apparent reason. Other than that it was a nice experience.

Aidan Virtue

This is one of my favorite places in the world the staff is aso friendly and they do such great projects with camers and walk-ins

Alan Munoz

Don't ever come on a field trip here you pay money for an hour and the staff talk so much

Lightning Bolt

Its fun for kids 5 to about 10 or 11. Nice area outside to walk or take a short hike.

Sal DeFini

Great place for Birding this time of year

R-W Cain

Friendly staff, great setting with rich learning.

Christine Youn

Wonderful mother nature, family friendly museum.

QUIN 618

Very nice

Morton Krantz

Good for kids

Sylvia Hilton

My son had a great time on his kindergarten class trip, We will be returning soon.

Dave Leintz

Great history here and in such a beautiful setting

Kjell Sands

Activitys for kids at the museum and hiking trails that are short and shaded well

SAMUEL Rivera

Love it

Evan T

Great camp

Mark Scheck

The wood working shop was great for the Cub Scouts

Chien-ju Lin

Small place. Love the water feature in the summer and train set in the winter. Beautiful trail in the back. My daughter enjoy summer camp here working on different project.

Esther

Nice place..like an urban garden;quiet and peaceful.

Alexander Rivera

Love this place!!! Great running trails

Jonathan Carothers

Amazing place with interactive displays and activities.

Stephen Baumann

Amazing little community-based conservatory of sorts. Would definitely stop and take the time to get out of the car and enjoy what nature is all about here.

Kristin Kossack

Beautiful outside and in. Love the area...cool shops and restaurants in area.

Ran Amitay

Great couple of times visit. Then it's all the same. Lovely staff and nice outdoors walk

Farrah Rountree

Grate time

Ivan Arevalo

(Translated by Google) Very good (Original) Muy bueno

Jenny Cintron

So peaceful, relaxing, and exciting!

Antonia Calia-Bogan

I work there and it is a wonderful place.

Lana Marcucio

This is a great place for kids to have fun and explore their inventor side. I sent my son here for just a week of their summer camp and he loved it. Will be coming back next summer.

Love Jackson

I love this place! The children enjoy the projects that are put fourth. There is something there for kids of all ages. I would strongly recommend going there any time of year.

Haris Murad

Our 3 year old really enjoyed the trains

Endereye 928

Love to hike here or sit by waterfall museum is fun for kids

James Shackelford

Awesome for kids to explore and learn!

Clydesdale Parkinson's Quarter Speed

It's the coolest park to get lost in

Beth Louise

Nice quiet, and peaceful trails. Only 3/4 of a mile but it's a very nice quick hike with historical scenery. And a great little museum for children!

Karina Andreson

Very disappointing. We thought it was an actual museum highlighting and displaying Eli Whitney's inventions, but it turned out to be just a kiddie playhouse.

Chris Arrandale

A great place to learn and build wood projects for all ages.

Ayub Ahmed

LEDEDELE

LAJ crew

Fun for the kids. We took a nice walk outside.

marc lillie

Free, worth a look. Great for walks to the waterfall too!

Mike Richardson

It's a really nice park. There was a lot of people taking photos of birds.

Justin Robinson

Went here for a separate fundraising event, but was really impressed with the interactive options they offered for families.

Dawn M.

My grandchildren enjoy coming to Connecticut to visit Aunt & Uncle and going to make something awesome to take back home to PA from the museum.

Aaron Harrington

Awesome

DD Vasseur

I can't tell you how grateful I am, my kids and I spent many happy years at the museum volunteering. It's a wonderful place that has so much to offer. The museum is a celebration of childhood. Kids are important here. Kids play, invent and explore the world in an environment that nurtures creativity. It's magical. I love the exhibits, art contests, summer camps and walk in activities. Visit this historical wonderland.

Cristian Astudillo

Great place for children's programs.