Falmouth Historical Society

CONTACT:

P.O. Box 174, 55 and 65 Palmer Avenue
Falmouth, MA 02541
508-548-4857
falmouthhistoricalsociety.org

Carolyn Powers, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

The Falmouth Historical Society, founded in 1900, is located on a two acre complex in the heart of historic Falmouth village. Its Museums on the Green has two 18th-century houses which showcase period furnishings, china, toys, vintage clothing, fine art and hand-made quilts. Special exhibits depict Falmouth’s 19th-century maritime industries, pre-Civil War medicine and the life of Katharine Lee Bates, Falmouth-born author of “America the Beautiful.” One of the Society’s key collaborations is with the Falmouth Garden Club, whose members maintain three different gardens on the grounds: a Colonial-style garden, an herb garden and a naturalized Memorial Park.

Completing the complex is the recently rebuilt Hallett Barn, a hand-pegged structure above grade which now has a basement housing a new climate-controlled curatorial work and storage area. The exhibit area of the Barn features old tools and equipment for domestic chores, hands-on educational activities for the young and young-at-heart, and try-on period clothing. The Society provides extensive free community and school programming throughout the year and several times a week during the summer, including lectures, walking tours, and activities for children and families. The Society’s archives and research library are open to the public year around. Here is a small organization doing great things -- and you can help them grow an endowment to maintain their historic buildings, preserve and conserve their collections, and make use of new technologies in presenting the history of Falmouth in dynamic ways.

(1999: CULTURE: Education: Informal: Historic Preservation)