Since its beginnings in the mid 1930s, the Florence Griswold Museum has collected documents, photographs, and ephemera associated with the legacy of Florence Griswold and the artists of the Lyme Art Colony. When the Florence Griswold Association merged with the newly formed Lyme Historical Society in 1955, the mission of the institution broadened to incorporate local history from the town’s original settlement in the 17th century to the present day.

Over the years the Lyme Historical Society Archives have grown to include significant holdings of original documents, letters, photographs, deeds, mercantile and business records, artists’ scrapbooks, and accounts of events that took place in Lyme and Old Lyme. This valuable resource, full of original materials, holds the key to understanding aspects of the town’s art and history.