Guided Tours at Great Road Heritage Campus

HEARTHSIDE HOUSE MUSEUM OPENS SEASON WITH SPECIAL EXHIBIT AND HISTORIC SITE TOURS ON APRIL 23                 

On Sunday afternoon, April 23rd, Lincoln's Hearthside House Museum will open its 2023 season, offering something of interest for everyone and for all ages at each of the four sites as part of the Great Road Heritage Campus. Fully-guided tours will be given by the museum's enthusiastic volunteers, who are dressed in period attire at each site:  Hearthside House (1810).  the Moffett Mill (1812), Hannaway Blacksmith Shop (1880), and the Pullen's Corner Schoolhouse (1850).  

The tours at all the sites begin at 12:30 with staggered admission times during the afternoon to avoid crowding, with the last tour at Hearthside at 2:30 and at the other sites at 3:30. All sites will close at 4:00.  Advance registration is recommended through the website to schedule the visits.  A shuttle van will leave from Hearthside to transport visitors to the Moffett Mill, with stops at the Campus sites and running continuously between the sites.  

While Stephen Hopkins Smith built the Great Road mansion in 1810, it was not given the name Hearthside until 1904.  How did the mansion get its name?  Find out with the special exhibit "Woven Time: A History of the Talbot Family."  Residing at Hearthside from 1904-1926, Arnold G. Talbot and his family made their Great Road home into a nationally-renowned hand weaving business, "The Hearthside Looms," which operated using antique looms out of the third floor attic.  The same year that the Talbots moved to Hearthside, it had been the model for the design of the Rhode Island Building at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.  

The Talbots were at the forefront of the Arts & Crafts movement as well as the Colonial Revival in this country.  Not only did their weaving give them national recognition, but over the time period that the Talbots lived there, famous photographers used the house and family as their model for producing popular hand-colored photographs. They filled their home with family heirlooms so that the house became a museum over 100 years ago.  The family also collected miniature furniture and toys which filled the home.  When they moved out of Hearthside in 1926, the miniatures were donated to the RISD Museum.  In 2021, those same miniatures returned to Hearthside.  The weaving equipment and photographs have also returned and are on display.  

Arnold's family also had a major role in local and national history, with ties to the China Trade and the Revolutionary War.  The "Woven in Time" exhibit focuses on the Talbot's history, and also on the many local and world events which were happening during the early part of the 20th century that the family would have experienced when they lived there.  

The Moffett Mill offers a rare opportunity to step back into a different century.  Built in 1812, this relic of the early Industrial Revolution is frozen in time, as it still appears the same as it did when its doors closed around 1900.  The mill operated with water power from the Moshassuck River and provided custom work and repairs for area businesses and farms, from wagons, buggies and tools to laces for shoes and corsets around the period of the Civil War.  The original equipment and tools are still in place, just as they were 120 years ago.  A shuttle transport will drop off and pick up visitors on a set schedule, as this is the only safe access to the Mill. The last tour is at 3:30 p.m. Admission to the Mill  is included in the admission fee at Hearthside, or is $5/person if visiting only the Mill. The only safe access to the Mill is by the Campus shuttle van.
 

At the Pullen's Corner Schoolhouse, located next to the Visitors Center at the Park, discover why this charming one-room school got the name "Hot Potato School." The schoolhouse was moved from its original location on Angell Road to Chase Farm in 2015 and restored by the Friends of Hearthside.  It's filled with an impressive collection of antique schoolhouse books, toys, and teaching tools. A unique "magic lantern," an early slide projector, is one of the interesting items, complete with glass slides that were shown to children as a way of having them see and learn about far-away places.  Guests are welcome to write on slate boards or with a quill pen and experience how children from nearby farms of all ages got their education here from the mid-19th century until it closed in 1922. Visits to the schoolhouse are $5 per family or group, payable in cash upon arrival at the schoolhouse, or included in the General Admission for Hearthside.
 

At the Hannaway Blacksmith Shop, the blacksmith demonstrates at the forge while explaining the history of this original shop and the blacksmithing trade that occurred here.  Admission is free and visitors are welcome to stay as little or as long as they like. This is a drop-in so no advance scheduling is required. 
 

Hearthside and the historical sites at Chase Farm comprising the Great Road Heritage Campus are town-owned properties which are preserved and managed by the Friends of Hearthside.  All proceeds from tours and programs support the mission to preserve and protect these 19th century properties.   

Photo attached:  "Woven in Time: The History of the Talbot Family" is the featured exhibit at Hearthside as the museum opens for tours for the 2023 season.  Noted early 20th century photographer, David Davidson, took many photographs when the Talbots lived there, such as this hand-colored picture "On a News Hunt."  The original photo is one of several on exhibit, along with one of the woven shawls shown.