The Village is open today from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm.
Events and times subject to change
Today’s Events
(Events are 20 minutes unless noted)
All Day - Independence Cake for Sale on the Common
All Day - Sign the Giant Declaration of Independence near the Center Meetinghouse
9:45 Flag Raising with Fife & Drum on the Common
10:00 Drilling and Marching with the Sturbridge Militia on the Common
10:00 Songs and Stories of Long Ago in the Parsonage Barn
10:00 to 11:30 Try Your Hand at Fishing behind New England’s Changing Landscape exhibit
10:00 to 12:20 & 2:00 to 4:50 Ride the Stagecoach ($5 fee, under age 3 free) stops in front of the Bullard Tavern
10:00 to 1:30 Make a Three-Cornered Paper Hat in the Visitor Center
10:00 to 4:00 Quinebaug River Boat Ride
($5 fee, under age 3 free; 15-minute ride) at the dock by the Dummerston Bridge
10:30 Welcome to OSV: An Orientation Tour meets in front of the Center Meetinghouse 10:30 A Tour of the Towne House
11:00 19th-Century Shadow Puppets in the Parsonage Barn 11:00 Fife & Drum Music by the Center Meetinghouse
11:30 Golden Olden Tales in the Parsonage Barn 12:00 Help the Farmers with Summer Work at the Freeman Farm 12:00 Welcome to OSV: An Orientation Tour meets in front of the Center Meetinghouse 12:30 Musket Firing Demonstration near the Bullard Tavern
1:00 Meet a Schoolkeeper in the District School
1:00 Citizens Procession assembles in front of the Bullard Tavern
1:30 Reading of the Declaration of Independence on the Common
1:30 French & English (Tug of War) on the Common
2:00 to 4:50 Ride the Stagecoach ($5 fee, under age 3 free) stops in front of the Bullard Tavern 2:00 Meet 19th-Century Irish Immigrant Mary Culligan in the Towne House 2:00 Join a 19th-Century Base Ball Game by the Center Meetinghouse Sponsored by E. Osterman Gas
2:30 19th-Century Shadow Puppets in the Parsonage Barn
3:00 A Tour of the Freeman Kitchen Garden 3:00 19th-Century Country Music in the Parsonage Barn 3:00 Join a Game of Marbles by the District School 3:00 A Walk in the Woods meets by the start of the Woodland Walk
3:30 Old Sturbridge Village Dancers Demonstrate 19th-Century Dance by the Center Meetinghouse
4:00 Music on the Antique Pipe Organ in the Center Meetinghouse
4:15 Toy Fire Balloon Flight near the Tin Shop
4:30 Fife & Drum Demonstration on the Common
4:45 Flag Lowering with Fife & Drum on the Common
Daily Events are Subject to Change. Outdoor Activities are Weather Permitting. Demonstrations
10:00, 2:30, 4:00 Sawmill
10:00, 2:00 Broom Making near the Crafts Center
11:00, 3:00 Gristmill
11:30 1:00, 3:30 Carding Mill
See ongoing demonstrations until 5pm in the Small House, Tin Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Freeman Farmhouse, and Pottery. Also, see A Shoemaker at Work (9:30am-noon), A Cooper at Work (9:30-11:30am; 12:30-5pm), and A Printer at Work (1-4pm).
Hands-On Crafts Center Instruction by Village craftspeople; make an item to take home. Today’s offerings include: 10:00 to 12:00 Make a Clay Pot ($10)
10:00 to 4:30 Make a Tin Candleholder ($5)
10:30 to 11:30 Forge an Iron Hook ($10)
2:30 to 4:30 Dip a Pair of Candles ($5) Some age and safety restrictions apply. Cash payment is accepted on site; credit cards also accepted. In the Visitor Center Icons of New England Kidstory – Playing with History Taking Root: The Growing Business of Gardening in Pots in the 1800s
The J. Cheney Wells Clock Gallery NEW! Farm, Families and Change: New England Farming and Rural Life Farming Life in New England - in the Fenno Barn Tools of Agricultural Change - in the Fitch Barn A Revolution in Farming - in the Towne Barn New England’s Changing Landscape (see map)Where does our food come from? Why does the New England landscape look the way it does? Discover OSV’s newest visitor experience.
NEW! Too Good to Be Rags:
Mended and Re-Used Textiles
See items from the Village’s collections that tell stories through evidence of darning, patching, or mending. Now open in the Firearms & Textiles building.
NEW! Crafting a Living Stop in to the Freeman Barn and learn about how some Native American families supported themselves.The Bixby Family Exhibit How do we know what we know about the changing life of the Bixby Family in 1838? Find out in this exploratory exhibit for all ages across from the Blacksmith Shop.
The Tavern and the Stagecoach
Head to the Bullard Tavern to catch a ride on the reproduction stagecoach and get a feel for what travel was really like in the 1830s ($5 per person, under 3 may ride free on adult lap). Step inside and learn about the role of taverns in the community. In the Firearms & Textiles building, see On the Road, an exhibit about early New England stagecoaching.
The Fenno Textile Exhibit Learn about the home production of textiles in early New England and find out what the changes in factory production meant to fashions at home and in everyday dress. Try your hand at carding wool, weaving a pattern, and piecing a quilt block with colorful tiles. Dining & Shopping 9:30 to 5:00 Village Café-in the Oliver Wight Tavern
9:30 to 5:00 Grant Store & Bake Shop
10:00 to 5:30 Museum Gift Shop & Book Store
11:00 to 2:00 Bullard Tavern Cafeteria
11:30 to 2:30 Oliver Wight Tavern
12:00 to 4:30 Little Cakes – weather permitting
4:30 to 7:30 Oliver Wight Tavern – buffet supper We’re interested in your feedback
Please let us know about your visit at www.osv.org.
Enjoy a free 2nd visit within 10 days! Have your receipt validated at any gift shop today for a free return visit between now and July 14.
Thanks to our corporate supporters: