Hearthside - The House That Love Built

GREAT ROAD FALL HERITAGE FESTIVAL AND POW WOW AT CHASE FARM PARK SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 23-24

Herald in the Autumn season with this perfect family outing. Explore our heritage and traditional crafts by traveling through 300 years of history along Great Road, one of America’s earliest roadways. This weekend-long event features the opportunity to visit several historic sites along a 3-mile stretch of Great Road that will be open during the weekend for tours and special exhibits, both indoors and outdoors. These sites include Hearthside, Valentine Whitman House, the Hannaway Blacksmith Shop, the Saylesville Friends Meeting House and nearby Northgate and the Kelly House Museum.

On both Saturday and Sunday, the Native American traditions will be celebrated in a Pow Wow from 10 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on the grounds of Chase Farm Park. Circle of Wisdom, an intertribal council that promotes American Indian awareness, will feature traditional drumming, dancing, storytelling, crafts, Native foods and vendors, in the pastoral setting of the former Chase Dairy farm.

On Saturday afternoon, the Valentine Whitman House hosts a re-enactment of an Indian Fighters encampment and tours of the house. At 6:00 p.m. there will be a Colonial Dinner featuring a Colonial-inspired menu and offering the opportunity to dine with the re-enactors. Seating for the dinner is limited and reservations must be made in advance by calling 334-2182. The Whitman House will also be open for tours and demonstrations on Sunday from 11 to 2:00 p.m.

Traditional crafts of yesteryear are the feature on Sunday from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m. at Hearthside, where artisans will offer demonstrations on spinning, stained glass, woodworking, tin punching, hand weaving, rug hooking, stenciling, chair caning, quill writing and soap making. The site will offer home-made harvest treats such as hot apple crisp, pies and cider, and a Civil War sutlery will offer 19 th century goods for sale. Hand forging demonstrations will take place at the Hannaway Blacksmith Shop on the grounds of Chase Farm Park. A special feature of the day will be the opportunity to take some really unique family photos with a team of oxen, as a remembrance of your trip back in time along Great Road.

On Sunday from 1:00-4:00 p.m., the Blackstone Valley Historical Society invites visitors to come to the original “Toll House at Louisquisset Pike” (now known as Route 246) located just off Great Road, and enjoy some home baked goods from the Colonial recipes of the Arnold’s Lonsdale Bakery, which will be served out of the original reconstructed bakery that was a famous landmark in Lincoln since 1870.

The Captain Wilbur Kelly House along the Blackstone River Bikeway offers visitors an opportunity to see an 1835 mill owner’s house, which has now been converted to a small museum. The Kelly House includes a transportation exhibit about the operation of a canal and provides visitors with a glimpse of mill life during the 19 th century. It will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

A visit along Great Road would not be complete without a stop at the Saylesville Friends Meetinghouse. On Saturday, the Meetinghouse will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for its monthly Book Swap. Step inside one of the oldest meetinghouses in the country and bring a book you no longer want and take another one home with you to read. No late fees here. The cemetery that is adjacent to the Meetinghouse is being featured as part of the Great Road Heritage Festival. Some of the gravesites date to the early 1700’s and include several of the members of the Meetinghouse, such as the Arnold Family and Stephen Hopkins Smith, builder of Hearthside. The Meetinghouse and cemetery will also open on Sunday afternoon from 3:00-5:00 p.m.

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