Welcome to the
Avery-Copp House Museum

Photo by Tony Healy, Capture Visual Marketing

Photograph of the Avery-Copp House, c. 1885

Welcome

The Avery-Copp House was built c.1800 by Rufus Avery, and then sold to his sea captain cousin Latham Avery. The house then served as the home for many generations of the descendants of Latham Avery, until the last family member to live here, Joe Copp, died at age 101 in 1991. The name of the museum represents the original Avery owners, and the marriage of Betsey Avery to Belton Copp in the 1880’s.

The automobile comes to Groton

Groton's history

This museum shares the history of Groton as it was experienced in this house and the surrounding community just over a century ago. We focus on the years between 1890 – 1930, and exploring the house will reveal that this was a time of many great changes. Households enjoyed the introduction of electricity, plumbing, telephones, the phonograph, and the radio. This neighborhood saw the railroad bridge built across the Thames River, the trolley as a new form of public transportation, and the invention of the automobile. Society was impacted by World War I, the Spanish Flu epidemic, women gaining the right to vote, and the great changes brought by massive immigration – especially, in our community, from Ireland and Italy.

The Avery-Copp House kitchen with its original appliances.

Visit the house

Tours of the house will take visitors through the rooms, both plain and fancy, that were used by the family who lived here – and are still filled with their original possessions. Under the same roof, but with a very different story to tell, were the Irish immigrant domestic servants who lived and worked here. The vintage kitchen and third floor living quarters help to remind us of the challenges experienced by people who came to America seeking a better life during the last century.