Nye Museum
In August 2024, I went on a five-day trip to Cape Cod, MA where I visited many museums and cultural organizations, along with quick history stops and trails. My second stop was Nye Museum in East Sandwich, MA, which consisted of three buildings: a homestead originally constructed in 1678, a grange hall that now acts as the visitor center, and a grist mill built in 1858.
The museum is named for Benjamin Nye, described on a nearby plaque as a “miller and farmer” who built the homestead with his wife, Katherine Tupper Nye. Nye descendants lived on the property until 1910. Thirteen years later, in 1923, Ray Nye of Nebraska bought the land and gave it to the state government for wildlife conservation. The Nye Family of America Association led by Rosanna Cullity and Roswell Nye began their quest to acquire the house in 1959 and began restoration in 1962. After ten years of work, the museum opened in 1972 . The organization has continued to restore and maintain the homestead, along with acquiring the Grange Hall in 1991 and the restoration of Nye Mill from 2016 to 2019.
What I enjoyed about the tour of the homestead was that it checked off most of my colonial house boxes. The parlor had a 17th century chamfered summer beam painted in 18th century colors, a carved mantels, oil portraits of family members hung on the walls beside embroidered samplers, and a tiny piano or spinet. The kitchen contained a large red brick fireplace with bread ovens, a decorative rifle hung over the mantle, and a bed warmer resting nearby. Bedrooms held rope beds to “sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite”, and walls were decorated with reproduction stencils or vintage wallpaper. Upstairs was a loom and spinning wheel, a room of children’s toys, and a school desk. Not to be missed was the exposed post-and-beam construction, including a gunstock post hidden in a closet. As an added bonus, each room contained a little cartoon fox to keep kids entertained in a scavenger hunt.
The house contained several unique item. The hall had artifacts collected or created by sailors during their travels around the globe. My favorite item was a wooden box decorated with shells. Other interesting items were antique chair dated 1719 on its left arm, a handmade violin, and a stone used as money in Micronesia. On display upstairs was a ram skull that had been found underneath the house. The skull was likely believed by the original builders to have apotropaic principles, meaning that it could ward off evil. This artifact showed a fascinating mix of Puritan Christian practices with pagan beliefs.
Over in the Grist Mill was an exhibit on the history of the property. I learned that a stream was built in 1769 to accommodate migrating herring, who otherwise could not pass around the dam, not so different from the fish ladders being installed near modern dams today. In fact, Nye Museum added a modern fish ladder in 2013. The land was used as a trout hatchery between 1905 and 1990, with fish being shipped to Boston on trains. The remains of the hatchery can be seen while walking the Old Fish Hatchery Trail, completed in 2020, which includes Nye Pond, Mill Pond, and the small dam.
The mill itself was built by Oliver Jones in Centerville, a village of Barnstable, in 1858. Thirty-one years later, in 1889, the East Sandwich Grange bought the building and moved it to its current location. Businessman John A. Armstrong bought the building in 1897 and converted into a factory, until he went into the trout hatchery business instead in 1905, partnering with John Carleton. Armstrong had originally worked in jewelry and electroplating, or coating metal onto machines using electricity, in Attleboro, MA. I had last learned about these industries while visiting Attleboro Area Industrial Museum in July, so I was excited to see the connection between the two sites.
Nye Museum was an educational, fun, and relaxing experience. It had everything I desire in a small house museum and more. Like most historic houses, the buildings were not accessible to those using a wheelchair, and stairs may be steep for those with limited mobility. Lighting was dim in some parts of the house and the grange, especially since I visited on a day that turned rainy. The museum website is well-designed and fairly easy, providing substantial information about the property but no virtual tour at this time. The museum recently closed for the season but will open again in mid June. Tickets are $10 for adults and $0 for children members, active duty military, and NEMA members. If you want a comprehensive overview of life on Cape Cod before the present day, I highly encourage you to visit Nye Museum.
Abby Epplett’s Rating System
Experience: 8/10
Accessibility: 6/10