Old Sturbridge Village, Part 4

In late September 2025, I enabled my mild obsession with Old Sturbridge Village (OSV), a living history museum in Sturbridge, MA. In this five-part series, I will cover the forty antique buildings depicting rural New England life during the 1830s, exhibits showcasing artifacts from the period, and an art installation featuring cows decorated by local artists. In Part 1, I visited two meetinghouses, a country store, a tavern, a tin shop, and a pair of homes, along with watching costumed interpreters. In Part 2, I explored a school, workshops, mills, a covered bridge, heritage breed animals, costumed interpreters, and houses. In Part 3, I continued my visit to The Countryside by visiting the barn and a pair of workshops before returning to the Common & Center Village. In Part 4, I stopped in shops around the Common & Center Village, learn about plants, and visited exhibits.

A Greek-Revival style one-story building with four pillars painted brick red. A rustic general store with a overhanging roof over the long front porch and posters stuck on the wooden outside walls. A bright yellow reproduction barn with a yellow cow sculpture in front

Designed in the distinctive Greek-Revival, Thompson Bank was constructed around 1835 and moved to OSV as a fully intact building in 1963. Inside, a costumed interpreter explained how currency worked during the early 19th century when banks were legally allowed to print their own money. Next up was the Miner Grant Store and Bakeshop, a traditional general store that now acts as a giftshop. While I did not purchase any of the tasty treats, I appreciated the multisensory experience. The building was constructed around 1802 and moved to OSV in 1938, making it one of the first buildings to be placed on the property. The store was named for its original owners, Miner Grant, Sr. and Miner Grant, Jr. My final stop around the common was the Salem Towne Barn, a bright yellow building connected to Salem Towne House. While the barn looks original, it was actually constructed in 1955, three years after the house moved to OSV.

A late 18th century printer near cases of letters A small, one-story yellow building with a red brick chimney in the center Pants, a waistcoat, and a dress behind plexiglass

I next went to the Printing Office, originally built in Worcester, MA around 1780 and moved to OSV in 1951. I have visited many print shops during my museum adventures, the most recent being at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT and the reproduction Benjamin Franklin print shop in Philadelphia, PA. This experience was better than average, as the costumed interpreter was enthusiastic, balancing knowledge-sharing with a handheld demonstration. Each visitor was given a sheet of paper printed on the press and taught how to fold a little book. While print shops often gift bookmarks or postcards to their visitors, this experience was more interactive and memorable.

A black and white image of a 19th century man wearing a hat with real vintage sunglasses placed over his eyes A black and white image of a 19th century woman with lots of hair with real vintage sunglasses placed over her eyes A plexiglass case containing many fifes, firearms, a bright red uniform coat, and three early 19th century snare drums

With the houses completed, it was on to the exhibitions. The Dennison Schoolhouse had a small exhibit called Needle & Thread showcasing the skill of making clothes during the early 19th century. Nearby was The Glasshouse Gallery, a 1941 replica of the American Optical Company owned by George Washington Wells, the father of OSV founder Albert Bacheller Wells. The exhibit was a scaled down version of other museums I had visited, such as the Sandwich Museum of Glass in Sandwich, MA. My favorite part of the exhibit was the spectacle case where disembodied 19th century heads sported vintage spectacles with green or blue lens. The firearms and militia exhibit, Armed and Equipped showcased guns, uniforms, and instruments made between 1790 and 1840.

A green plant with small purple flowers and a sign reading Great Lobelia, Lobelia siphilitica A small green plant with the sign Deadly Nightshade, Atrops belladonna Pink and yellow dahlias near a red brick walkway

On my way back to the Main entrance, I stopped in the Herb Garden to learn about traditional cooking and medicine. A cluster of tobacco plants reminded me of the Connecticut Valley Tobacco Museum at Northwest Park in Windsor, CT, which I had visited only a few weeks earlier. Beside the tobacco was a plot once containing scarlet pimpernel, the code name of a well-known literary character. Some of the plants would be dangerous if consumed, such as deadly nightshade or belladonna and great lobelia. My last outdoor stop was a cluster of pink and yellow dahlias adding a pop of color to the walk.

A young man mannequin wearing 19th century clothing holds hands with a pregnant young woman mannequin wearing an early 19th century dress An oil portrait of an early 19th century man pointing to clock equipment A clock about eight feet tall bade of mahogany with three brass finials and a sun-and-moon spinning plate above and behind the clockface.

I finished up my trip with the exhibits inside the visitor center. A timeline along the wall leading to the exhibits showed the process of OSV transforming from the intense hobby of a wealthy industrialists to a successful living history museum. The first exhibit was Hands & Hearts, which explored courtship and marriage in 19th-century New England. The exhibit examined the lives of four couples: a young couple who faced stigma after becoming pregnant out of wedlock, an older couple obligated to remarry quickly after the deaths of their first spouses, a Black couple that faced not only prejudice but months of separation due to the husband’s job as a sea captain, and a same-sex couple of two women who publically lived together. The exhibit did a good job balancing different voices without becoming heavy-handed. In the next gallery was a larger exhibit of many, many clocks. Since I had previously visited the American Clock & Watch Museum in Bristol, CT, along with multiple visits to the Willard Clock Museum in Grafton, MA, I had seen similar clocks and felt like an expert. With that, I had finished my journey, although I have one post left. OSV was running a special exhibit called Cow Parade during my visit, and the final post will cover this bovine artwork.

Location: 1 Old Sturbridge Village Rd, Sturbridge, MA 01566, USA