More About What You'll See There
Old Sturbridge Village is fashioned to resemble a 1830s town complete with homes of the era, a church/meeting house and many functioning workshops to tour. Most of the buildings were moved on to the current property from that same area of Massachusetts. All the structures were built between the late 1700s and 1850, and they are very nicely restored and maintained.
Like in Colonial Williamsburg, you’ll find a cobbler making shoes, a blacksmith crafting metalwork and a cooper’s shop were wooden buckets, barrels and churns are fastened together with metal bands. While the items they make in these shops are new, visitors learn about how some of the collectibles that would cost a pretty penny today came into being.
You may even have the opportunity to talk with a schoolteacher dressed in period clothing in a one-room schoolhouse to find out what it was like to oversee a classroom then. The schoolroom on the property is outfitted with well-worn antique desks made of wood and along with other supplies New England schoolchildren would have used in the 1830s.
Antiques You'll Learn About There
The only real museum on the property displays a small but nicely curated collection called “Glass in New England.” It contains original examples of cup plates, blown glassware, optical wares, colorful bottles made by local manufacturers and even a number of glass examples produced in Sandwich, Mass. located a few hours away on Cape Cod. But, each shop and home visited on the grounds actually serves as a mini-museum of sorts.
For example, the homes are filled with furnishings used in an 1830s home. The working kitchens even contain old utensils, fireplaces and wood-burning ovens where pancakes and breads are prepared while visitors watch.
Old Sturbridge Village would be appealing to anyone with an interest in early American history, and ardent antiquers won’t be disappointed in the objects of interest there even though they aren’t for sale. If you have an urge to shop when you’re finished with your tour, there are antique shops a short car ride away and they stay open late during Brimfield.
