Treasure hunting

After strolling the Green’s pathways, head toward the Center Church to visit its basement crypt. The church was built over a small portion of the town’s burial ground, preserving 137 gravestones of New Haven’s founders and earliest citizens, dating from 1687. The remains and headstones were left in their original positions, protected and enclosed by the foundation creating a crypt. Luminaries entombed there include the Reverend James Pierpont (a founder of Yale College); Benedict Arnold’s first wife Margaret; and members of the family of the United States nineteenth president, Rutherford B. Hayes.

Open daily, the New Haven Free Public Library offers far more than books and movies. Its calendar is packed with programming for all ages. Families can enjoy weekly story time featuring songs and play in both English and Spanish, while children from Pre-K through high school benefit from comprehensive homework help, including web-based tutorials, interactive math games, and educational content about animals and nature. Teenagers can access courses on financial literacy and extensive library research databases. Adults will find valuable job search services, computer classes, and connections to social and community resources.

Whether out for an afternoon stroll or visiting some historical gravesites, the Grove Street Cemetery is a must-see destination. Stretching across 18 walled acres, it serves as the resting place for many prominent figures and ordinary citizens. In total, there are about 14,571 people buried in what’s been called the “city of the dead” because of its named streets. Walking through its bucolic landscape, visitors can explore New Haven and Yale’s history through the varied markers, from grand obelisks to simple headstones of those who lived or worked locally. It remains an active cemetery with yearly burials and plots available for purchase.

This local gem has been collecting and preserving Greater New Haven’s history for more than 160 years. Its holdings include decorative arts, a photographic library, manuscripts, architectural drawings, maps, newspapers, and other artifacts. Visitors can explore its exhibits or attend a lecture to discover the city’s 375-year story. Two permanent exhibits include “Amistad: Retold” and “From Clocks to Lollipops: Made in New Haven.” Visitors learn details about the 1839 Amistad Revolt led by 53 West African captives, their trial, and legacies. Guests may be surprised by the variety of consumer goods produced in New Haven over three centuries, including corsets, carriages, automobile parts, and candy. Don’t miss “Pronounced Ah-Beetz” on view until October 2027, which examines the history of pizza and its place in local lore.

Founded in 1832, the Yale University Art Gallery is America’s oldest college art museum. Free and open to the public, it spans three buildings and features a rooftop terrace and an outdoor sculpture garden. With over 4,000 works on display, there’s plenty to explore, including collections that span from the ancient world to the present day. The Gallery showcases American art, ancient sculptures, furniture, textiles, masterworks by Picasso and van Gogh, and much more. Beyond its permanent collection, the Gallery offers teen workshops, gallery sketching sessions, a community sewing project, and regular guided tours of gallery highlights. If you only have an hour, don’t miss these must-see marvels.

The Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) reopened in March 2025 after a major two-year renovation. Free and open to all, it features ongoing exhibitions including “In a New Light: Five Centuries of British Art,” which includes family portraits, landscapes, seascapes, manor houses, and cathedrals. The YCBA also offers Teen Tuesdays as well as docent and student-led tours. Current temporary exhibitions include “Rina Banerjee: Take me, take me, take me … to the Palace of love,” featuring a floating pink cellophane sculpture that resembles the Taj Mahal and “Going Modern: British Art, 1900–1960,” which includes abstract, geometric, and expressive artworks and sculptures.