This pair of men’s shoes was found under the floorboards of the courtroom of the Colony House in October 2013.
Experts locally and regionally have examined the photographs and tell us that:
The shoes are turnshoe construction and most likely made for indoor wear, but the iron cut nails around the heels and the wear patterns indicate that they were worn outdoors. The narrow oval toe with pronounced left/right shaping, the short heel and the smaller wood pegs encourage us to believe that they were made circa 1830-1840.
The slippers were discovered by Steve Guglielmo. Mr. Guglielmo is a Principal with Saccoccio & Associates Architects whose firm is managing the multiyear restoration project of the Colony House. It’s believed that the shoes were concealed as talismans for good-luck and were probably stashed by workmen in the mid-19th century.