Woodcock Garrison House

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving I went to the Woodcock Garrison House in North Attleboro. The house is the oldest house in town. The historical society had an open house where members of the community could tour it for a small donation. The volunteers were dressed in period attire. All of them had a ton of knowledge on the house and how Colonials lived. As soon as we walked in, there was a turkey cooking by the fireplace, and you felt transported back three hundred years.

Each room had a volunteer explaining the artifacts/antiques in the room. Some of the stuff was very interesting. There were utensils from pre-Revolutionary War time, old furniture, and a ton of other stuff needed to survive in that time period. Being half way between Boston and Providence, the house was used as an inn for many years. George Washington slept there once.

 I sort of dragged my friend Laurie along as she had no real desire to go. By the time we went into the second room she was asking questions. In our town, third grade students take a tour of the town. We had to dress up in "knickers" or dresses. We hit many historical sites including the Garrison House and the little red school house next door. I remember the field trip a little bit, and a couple of things I was taught came back to me on the tour. It was fun going back and reliving a field trip I took about 32 years ago. If you are ever in the North Attleboro area and there is an open house held by the Historical Society, it is well worth a couple of hours.

On the other hand, if you are into history, I am sure many towns have historic buildings and their Historical Society has the occasional open house. Even though places like Concord and Boston get the lion's share of the historical attention in New England, maybe we should all get to know our hometown a little bit better. I know I am going to try.

Historic Sycamore outside of the house

Little Red Schoolhouse