Last updated: 10/21/2011
147 Russell St
Hadley, MA 01035
P.O.Box 323
Hadley, MA 01035
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Sharon Parsons
phone:
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Thomas West
phone:
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The Hadley Farm Museum houses an incredible collection of vehicles and equipment used on New England farms and farmhouses from the late 1700s to the early 20th century. Located in a 1782 barn, the museum showcases many items just as they would have been found on the farm.
What's inside? The first broom making machine, spinning wheels, cobblers' benches, hay tedders, butter churns, furnishings, tools, toys, and many more historic artifacts of times gone by. Also on display is our newly restored stagecoach (climb inside!) that led Hadley's 350th Celebration parade.
The Hadley Farm Museum is located in the historic town of Hadley, Massachusetts, next to the Town Hall and near the Congregational Church with its unusual, beautiful spire. It is located at the junction of Routes 9 and 47, just four miles from Northampton, on the way to Amherst
The museum is, fittingly, an old barn, moved to its present site in 1930, but built in 1782. Originally it was located on the Porter-Phelps Huntington estate, two miles up the river. The exterior was remodeled with white painted clapboards and windows to harmonize with the other public buildings in the neighborhood. An ornate, colonial doorway was added, which is a copy of the main entrance to the McQueston house, the oldest house in the village.
The interior is much the same as when originally built -- hand hewn timbers, old rough boards and planks, un-painted, the hay mows of yesterday displaying the farm tools of our ancestors. The old timbers and boards used in restoration came from similar old barns torn down when the Quabbin Reservoir was made for Boston's water supply in nearby towns of Prescott, Endfield, Greenwich, and Pelham.
Our Abbott & Downing stagecoach, a feature since the opening of the museum, was built in Concord, New Hampshire and served passengers traveling around... After many years of beloved exploration by museum visitors and being used in local parades, the stagecoach interior and upholstery were restored in 2007. John Allegra of Allegra Farm in East Haddam, CT performed the restoration and has also supplied horses and coachmen for several recent parades. Contributions towards the cost of the restoration are gratefully accepted.
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