Historic Sites Near the Mohawk Trail
Arts, crafts, plays, theater and music organizations and locations.
For those not familiar with out museum, we are accessible via the Mohawk Trail...first left after the Mohawk Park bridge in Charlemont (if you are coming from the west).The Rowe Historical Society owns and operates the Kemp-McCarthy Museum.The museum has an extensive collection of local artifacts and antiques]Highlights of the collection include antique quilts, 19th century dolls, period costumes, china and glassware, sleighs, furniture, photographs, cookware, tools, farm implements and an original 19th century hearse.he Kemp-McCarthy Museum alsohas many valuable photos and literature from the Davis Mine, the Hoosac Rail Tunnel, and the Yankee Atomic Electric Company. There is a virtual tour on our website, if you would like to take a look: https://rowehistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/
Built in 1798 as the original Deerfield Academy building, it opened in 1880 as a museum to preserve and display collections as a "direct memorial of the inhabitants of this valley, both Indian and Puritan." 19 exhibition rooms. Open May 1 - Oct. 31, Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am - 4:30 pm. Rts. 5 & 10.
Located in a Historic Mill Building on the Green River has seen continued industrial use for three centuries.
This museum tells the story of the rich industrial history of the area.
Visit our family friendly exhibits – open Saturday afternoons 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm during the summer or schedule an appointment to visit another time.
Exhibits of Early Cutlery, Tools, Gages, Machinery and other products from the area.
Main Gallery is a permanent exhibit telling the core story of Franklin County's rich industrial history. Take a chronological tour starting with the development of America's first industrial scale Cutlery manufacturing through to current day high precision manufacturing that carrys on this heritage.
Technology - Transportation & Trade - Early Water Power History in the Small Hill Towns
Water Power made Franklin County hum with industrial activity in the 18th, 19th and early 20 centuries. Technology - Transportation & Trade is an exhibit that's part of the Main Gallery also. The exhibit focusses on the smaller hill towns of the region which were the first to adapt mechanical water power from the abundant small streams and rivers. In 1905 the combined towns of Franklin County produced mechanical water power of 14,751 Horsepower, the equivelent to produce 11 megawatts of electricity.
Museum Tool Room
Guided and supervised by museum staff, adult visitors to our Open Houses (and adolescents accompanied by an adult) can try their hand at both our woodworkers’ bench and a re-created Goodell Pratt machine shop in our Hands-on Workshop down the hall from the exhibit gallery.
While the Workshop is only in action for Open Houses, Teacher Workshops, Special Interest Tours, and by chance on Summer Saturdays, it is always open for viewing during the museum’s open hours.
Gage Room
This exhibit was created as part of a "Teaching American History" program that the museum participated in. Through a NEH grant, teachers from all over the eastern half of America came to the Connecticut Valley to learn about the early industrial history here centered on the Springfield Armory Historic site. The companies in Greenfield are noted for close cooperation with the Armory by developing precision thread systems and quality control systems. Learn about Greenfield's role in setting national and world wide mechanical standards and about the manufacturing culture that supported it. Here in the gage room which is modeled after a typical factory R&D or quality control area, one can learn about the basic concepts of mass production quality control developed here and known as the "American Manufacturing System" of "Armory System" and which has been adopted all over the world. View and use a variety of precision measuring instruments made by local pioneering companies.
The Quaker Meting House is the most important historical landmark in Adams. It is a memorial to the pioneer people who first settled the tract of land that became Adams. The Quakers, or Friends as they called themselves, were a religious denomination who came from the Smithfield, Rhode Island area. They were the first group of settlers to from a community in East Hoosuck, the original name of the Adams township.
They most likely moved to the Hoosac Valley in the 1760s because the area was recently opened for development. The Quakers must have felt the spirit of adventure that compelled so many Americans to leave thecomforts of their homes to pioneer the wilderness to the west.
They lived in Adams for 15 yeras before starting to build the meeting house in 1782. They finished it four years later. It ook so long to complete because the Friendswere less interested in a monumental place of worship tham living their lives according to their religious precepts.
The meeting house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Open for tours Sundays in July through Columbus Day from 1-4pm
On the last Sunday in ugust the Society of Friends Descendants hold an Annual Meeting which includes a half hour of silence and a speaker
Susan B. Anthony -- Adams' Famous Daughter
Although Susan B. Anthony lived in Adams for only the first six years of her life, she was greatly influenced by the beliefs and aspirations of her hometown Quaker community. Her great-grandfather was a pioneer settler here and one of the founding members of the East Hoosac Meeting. Anthony devoted the greater part of her life seeking justice as an abolitionist against slavery and as a suffragette for the rights of woman to vote. Her inner light guided her through the darkness of this world.
Spring/Summer (Memorial Day-Columbus Day): 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, Thursday-Saturday and Monday, Sunday 11:30 am - 4:00 pm
Fall/Winter (Columbus Day-Memorial Day): 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, Friday,Saturday and Monday, Sunday 11:30 am - pm
Call to arrange private tours: 413-743-7121
The gift shop at the Birthplace Museum features many Suffrage-themed souvenirs and gift items made by local female artisans of the berkshires. These unique gifts include handmade jewelry, pocket books, potholders, and much more, perfect for this holiday season. They also sell a large variety of books for children and adults about the suffrage movement, famous reformers, and local history.
It is a "must See" when visiting the Northern Berkshires. Admission: $6.00 Adult / $4.00 senoir citzen $3.00 Studnet / Free children six and under.
The Williamstown House of Local History was founded in 1941 to preserve and to promote knowledge of the town's history. Our goal is to document the diverse people and buildings, the associations and businesses, the institutions and events, that form the town's history from the earliest days to the present time.
