Historic Sites
Arts, crafts, plays, theater and music organizations and locations.
The Heritage State Park is located in a restored 19th century fire station. It offers self-guided exhibits that trace the sliversmith and furniture making industry in Gardner, also know as "Chair City"
Park directions from Route 2 east or west: take exit 22, then Rte 68, North to downtown Gardner. At the junction with Rte. 101, bear right onto Central Steet and the park is immediately on your left
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. The Kemp-McCarthy Museum also has 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: www.rowehistoricalsociety.org.
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 Daily 11am-5 pm. Rts. 5 & 10.
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-Monday.
Fall/Winter (Columbus Day-Memorial Day): 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, Thursday-Saturday.
Call to arrange private tours: 413-743-7121
Admission: $5.00 adult / $3.00 student or senior citizen / 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.
