Shoe Shop, Old Sturbridge Village (1800)
The Shoe Shop at Old Sturbridge Village was built in Sturbridge sometime between 1800 and 1850 and was moved to the Village in 1939.
Category: Sturbridge
Printing Office, Old Sturbridge Village (1780)
The Printing Office at Old Sturbridge Village was built around 1780 in Worcester, where it was located next to the County Court House. It was owned for a time by printer Isaiah Thomas, who moved his business from Boston to Worcester during the Revolutionary War (although he probably did not do his printing in the building). The Printing Office was relocated to Old Sturbridge Village in 1951.
Dennison Schoolhouse Replica (1946)
In 1946, Old Sturbridge Village built a replica of an 1849 schoolhouse. It stood on the Common, where the Thompson Bank is now located. In 1963, it was moved elsewhere in the Village, where it is now used for historical performances and special programs. The original Dennison Schoolhouse, on Dennison Lane in Southbridge, is now a private residence.
Pliny Freeman House (1815)
The Pliny Freeman Farmhouse at Old Sturbridge Village was built elsewhere in Sturbridge by Chester Belknap between 1812 and 1815. It is named for Pliny Freeman, who bought the property in 1828 (his third in town) and spent 23 years there. He and his wife Delia Marsh had seven children, most of whom were grown by 1828 and most of whom eventually migrated westward. He sold the farm in 1851 and went to live with his daughter Delia until his death in 1855. The Freeman House was condemned by the Massachusetts highway department and moved to Old Sturbridge Village in 1950 (and relocated again in the Village in 1956). Today, it is surrounded by farm fields and historic outbuildings which collectively depict the life and work on an early-nineteenth century New England farm.
Bolton Friends Meetinghouse (1796)
Quakers in Bolton formed the Friends Meeting in 1779 and constructed the Bolton Friends Meetinghouse in 1795. By 1930, membership had dwindled and the Friends joined the Unitarians and Baptists and formed the Bolton Federated Church, known as the First Parish of Bolton. In 1952, the Friends deeded their former meetinghouse to Old Sturbridge Village. It was moved to Sturbridge in 1953 and restored to its original 1796 appearance, necessitating the removal of an 1818 addition.
District School, Old Sturbridge Village (1810)
The District School at Old Sturbridge Village is a one-room Schoolhouse, originally built in Candia, New Hampshire, c. 1800-1810. It was moved to Sturbridge in 1955.
Bullard Tavern, Old Sturbridge Village (1946)
Although surrounded by eighteenth and nineteenth century period buildings, Bullard Tavern at Old Sturbridge Village was built in 1946-1947. Although resembling an early New England house or tavern, it was not designed as a strictly accurate historical reproduction. Bullard Tavern was built as a service building, originally intended to provide visitor amenities and exhibit space, but it soon became a restaurant. The woodwork in the Tavern’s Tap Room was salvaged from an eighteenth-century house in Brooklyn, Connecticut.