Carver CASPER students visited the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum on Friday to learn about the vibrant past of this National Historic Landmark. The museum’s enthusiastic docents dressed in period costumes lead the tour that explores the building’s dynamic history, artistic legacy, outstanding architectural details, and life during the Victorian era.

Themes discussed by docents include the arts of the mid-to-late 19th century, transportation, immigration, and some of the major economic challenges following the Civil War. Docents discuss with students life during the Victorian era and “modern” amenities including lighting, communication, and topics that relate to those inventions such as power outages and the impact that electricity has had on everyday life.

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is regarded as one of the earliest and most significant Second Empire Style country houses in the United States. Built by renowned financier and railroad tycoon LeGrand Lockwood from 1864-1868, the Mansion, with its unparalleled architecture and interiors, illustrates magnificently the beauty and splendor of the Victorian Era. Lockwood’s financial reversal in 1869 and his untimely death in 1872 resulted in the loss of the estate, then known as “Elm Park,” through foreclosure in 1874. The property was sold to Charles D. Mathews and his wife Rebecca in 1876.

Mathews, a prominent importer from New York, and his family, resided in the Mansion until 1938 (the year group of volunteers founded the Carver Foundation of Norwalk). In 1941 the estate was sold to the City of Norwalk and designated a public park.