Cheney Cemetery Association

The Cheney Homestead, built in 1785, is operated as a house museum by the Manchester Historical Society. The Cheney family gifted the building to MHS in the ‘60s. The Homestead is proudly sporting a new roof made of metal shingles guaranteed to last 50 years.

Cheney Brothers’ two-mile-long railroad was the shortest in the country and also the only line in to be owned by a family rather than a company. It was used to convey silk products from their mill in Manchester, CT to the other mill, based in Hartford. The engine was called the Cheney Goat.

Look how Cheney Brothers marketed their beautiful silk fabrics in the 1920's. Paris fashion straight from Manchester, Connecticut.

For Cheney Family members and historians interested in Cheney Brothers Silk (1838-1954) in Manchester, CT, we invite you to start your research at www.cheneyancestry.org/resources.

The Cheney Cemetery Association enters into the spirit of the town's 200th birthday sporting the banner on the famous Manchester Thanksgiving road race route.

Cheney Brothers were both early and innovative in tempting silk lovers to buy their fabrics. They exercised inbound marketing as early as 1918. The booklet Why Do You Call Them Polka Dots? tells the true story of how this famous pattern was named. Fascinating! for your free copy email [email protected].