Old Sturbridge Village Travel Guide

 emilienoelle Says:  The Society of Friends Meeting House is an authentic 1800s building moved to the Sturbridge Village site from Bolton, Massachusetts. Also known as the Quakers, the Society of Friends' love of simplicity is evident in the construction of the church which consists of little... 

 emilienoelle Says:  The cooper makes both barrels and buckets for water and milk out of wood. Out of all the craftsmen we visited at OSV, I think this one impressed me the most. Making a barrel by hand takes an unbelievable amount of patience and skill. Each wooden stave must be just the right... 

 emilienoelle Says:  At the OSV blacksmith shop they really make things out of iron. The furnace they use is coal-fired, and much smaller than you'd expect. The shop itself is full of tools and things that they've made there. It's really like going back in time. On the day we visited in April... 

 emilienoelle Says:  No, not that annoying preppy housewares store--this is a real pottery barn where you can watch potters making dishes, pots and cups on foot-powered pottery wheels exactly the way they were made in the early 19th Century. Pottery was often made by farmers during the... 

 emilienoelle Says:  OSV offers a lot of games and activities for children. Some are educational and structured while others are simply just for fun. One of the things that Miss M liked was playing the old-fashioned push the hoop game--the one you always see kids doing in those old Currier &... 

 Pawtuxet Says:  Sometimes it's fun to try and guess where the building came from. One building was obviously Connecticut style..while others might be from Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island or Massachusetts. They try to rescue buildings which are in danger of being lost. Of course there... 

 Pawtuxet Says:  Early versions of bowling at the side of an old house....or a costumed guide playing baseball in the grass with young visitors, or boys bringing home toy muskets...the kids find lots of interesting things to do at Sturbridge. There was even a huge plastic cow outside the... 

 emilienoelle Says:  There are a few places where you can eat at OSV. One of them is a cafeteria type place in the central part of of the town that has picnic tables outside. You can get normal lunch items there such as sandwiches and salads and slices of pizza. Across the way from it there is... 

 Pawtuxet Says:  The gift shop at Sturbridge Village is first of all a handsome building which you approach from the herb garden....down stone steps...past the poppies. Inside you'll find wares made right at Sturbridge in the old methods...such as iron pieces made by the blacksmiths, and... 

 Pawtuxet Says:  I fell in love as soon as I walked through the door of this kitchen. I think I surely lived a previous life in the 1700's. Love the color, the cupboards, wavey glass in the windows and the wonderful cooking fireplace with brick oven. Racks on the ceiling to hang herbs to... 

 Pawtuxet Says:  Lombard and I spent some time trying to figure out what the museum folks were doing with one of the houses which is currently being rehabbed. They have raised pannelling and paint jobs which are off center with fireplaces and odd color combinations which don't make sense... 

 emilienoelle Says:  Being that OSV is a recreation of a 19th Century farming village, they have a lot of livestock. There are oxen for plowing the fields, sheep, cows and chickens. The chickens pretty much wander around where they please, searching for food. The sheep are sheared each year and... 

 Pawtuxet Says:  There are guides around Sturbridge Village who are dressed in period costume and many are doing the work of the old village in an authentic way. This woman sitting by the wood pile was also tending a pot of something cooking over an open fire. While she waited for the...