Arts & Culture
Two bookshops, the library in an 1842 house, Barnum in bronze, and the independent cinema at the top of the avenue.
5Stops
0.8 miOn foot
16Min walk
A morning Greenwood Avenue, Bethel, Connecticut
Spend a morning on Greenwood Avenue
Greenwood Avenue connects the square, station, library, shops and historic storefronts in one walkable line. Start with three stops, then make the day yours.
The same ground, 1914 and today: the fountain at what the Town renamed P. T. Barnum Square.
120 Upcoming dates across Bethel
What’s On
Open mics, camps, choir nights and story hours on Greenwood Avenue and across town, read from every Bethel calendar that publishes openly.
Aug 10 St Mary Church
Mass
6 am, through Sep 5
Aug 10 Bethel Parks & Recreation
Dine Around the World 2026
9 am, through Aug 14
Aug 10 Bethel Public Library
Book and Bricks
3:30 pm
25 Places on the avenue
Greenwood Avenue, Block by Block
From the Square up past the library, the buildings on the National Register still hold a bookshop, an ice cream counter and a church. Each row shows what is open at the number and what the building is.
1
Famous Pizza
On the avenue
P. T. Barnum Square
A small triangular park laid out in 1881 as Fountain Place, renamed for the showman in 1928, with Ernest Moore Viquesney's bronze Doughboy at its center.
Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0 On the avenue
Town Green
Municipal open space, free and open to the public.
129
Jubi Tea & Sweets
Bubble tea at 129.
129 Greenwood Avenue: c.1860, No stylistic reference. A contributing building in the Greenwood Avenue Historic District.
141
Bethel United Methodist Church
The district's only church, built 1861, mixing a Greek Revival cornice, Italianate windows and a Gothic Revival tower.
Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0 141 Greenwood Avenue: 1861, Greek/Gothic Revival. A contributing building in the Greenwood Avenue Historic District.
158
Dr. Mike's Ice Cream Shop
Ice cream at 158, in one of the avenue's c.1845 Greek Revival buildings.
Brianegge · CC0 158 Greenwood Avenue: c.1845, Greek Revival. A contributing building in the Greenwood Avenue Historic District.
178
Byrd's Books
The independent bookshop at 178, in an Italianate block the National Register dates to about 1860.
178-82 Greenwood Avenue: c.1860, Italianate. A contributing building in the Greenwood Avenue Historic District.
On the avenue
P.T. Barnum
189
Bethel Public Library
The library occupies the Seth Seelye House, built about 1842 and listed on the National Register in its own right.
Jerry Dougherty · CC BY 2.5 189 Greenwood Avenue: 1842, Greek Revival. A contributing building in the Greenwood Avenue Historic District.
8 Walks you can take today
Eight Walks, Ready to Use
Curated walks, each assembled from real stops and measured along the street. Change any of them, or start your own.
Family Fun Day
Start on the green, work up the avenue to the ice cream counter, and finish at the playground.
5Stops
700 ftOn foot
3Min walk
Dining Tour
Coffee roasted in town, a slice on the Square, bubble tea, ice cream, a coffee house, and a drive-in that never left.
6Stops
0.9 miOn foot
18Min walk
Historic Bethel
The National Register district end to end, including the buildings that now hold a bookshop and the public library.
6Stops
0.2 miOn foot
5Min walk
21 acres On the National Register since December 17, 1999
The Greenwood Avenue Historic District
The Greenwood Avenue Historic District runs between P.T. Barnum Square and Depot Place. The federal nomination inventories 32 addresses along it, 27 of them contributing buildings. Most are still shops.