Town Historian Mary Donohue will be joined by Chuck Coursey to lead the lecture, followed by an ice cream social in celebration of West Hartford history and Historic Preservation Month.

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The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society, West Hartford’s America 250 Celebration, and Playhouse on Park will collaborate to present a special Lecture and Ice Cream Social, “Building a Dairy Empire: A.C. Petersen,” on Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 4 p.m. at Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford, CT.

The event carries special significance for the Playhouse itself: the building where West Hartford audiences gather for live theater today once served as the milk delivery truck garage for A.C. Petersen Farms. That adaptive reuse – from industrial dairy hub to beloved community arts space – is at the heart of this program, which is presented as part of Historic Preservation Month.

The lecture will trace the remarkable story of Andrew Christian Petersen, a Danish immigrant who arrived in New York in 1912 with little more than determination. After working for a relative’s Hartford milk route, Petersen purchased his own delivery route in 1914 and steadily expanded his operation. By 1921, Petersen had acquired property along Park Road in West Hartford and begun processing milk into retail dairy products. Over the following decades he purchased multiple local dairy farms and built the Petersen Farms brand into a cornerstone of the region’s food industry.

Milk storage at AC Petersen Farms. From the Petersen family archives

On May 3, 1940, the new A.C. Petersen Farms Ice Cream Parlor opened its doors, drawing more than 2,000 visitors on its very first day. The parlor promoted modern comforts such as air conditioning, making it a summertime destination for generations of West Hartford families.

“The A.C. Petersen Ice Cream Parlor is a 1940 Art Moderne style masterpiece! With only an elementary school education, Petersen’s strong business acumen led him to control all aspects of milk production, processing and sales,” explains West Hartford Town Historian Mary Donohue.

The program will be presented by Donohue and Chuck Coursey, host of the popular Trout Brook Tales history podcast. Together, they will share rarely seen photographs from the Petersen family archives alongside contemporary images, and offer a look at the largely unseen upper floor of the original factory building.

Following the lecture, attendees will be treated to ice cream courtesy of A.C. Petersen Farms, continuing a sweet tradition that has delighted the community for more than eighty years.

Admission is $15 per person. All proceeds benefit Playhouse on Park. Tickets and additional information are available at PlayhouseOnPark.org.

About Playhouse on Park: Playhouse on Park is a professional nonprofit theater company located in West Hartford, Connecticut. Housed in an adaptively reused building that originally served as the A.C. Petersen Farms delivery truck garage, the Playhouse is committed to producing high-quality live theater and celebrating the cultural heritage of its community.

About the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society: The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society preserves and promotes the history of West Hartford through education, collections, and community programming. The Society is a proud partner in West Hartford’s America 250 Celebration.

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