Old Sturbridge Village

For the first time in ten years I went to Old Sturbridge Village (OSV). If you are not familiar with OSV, it is a living history museum. In the style of Colonial Williamsburg (on a much smaller scale) it is a recreation of a town from the 1830s. There are forty preserved buildings on the 200 hundred acre grounds. The buildings were brought there from other parts of New England, but they are 200 years old and not replicas. There are also many other antiques such as old firearms and farm equipment.
OSV is set up like an actual town. There is a common. There are two churches, a saw mill, grist mill and other businesses such as a bank.

We arrived about 10;30 and stayed until 4:30. There are costumed guides in many of the shops. For instance in the blacksmith shop a blacksmith was making a hot plate of iron. The potter was making small pitchers out of clay. They explain there craft and answer any questions. It is very educational. For a fee of three dollars a person, one can take a short ride on the stage coach or a twenty minute ride on the boat, We took a boat ride. It was nothing special, but it did get us off our feet for a few minutes.

People are allowed to leave the grounds and re-enter with their ticket. We went to the parking lot at

noon and ate our chicken salad sandwiches that we brought. However OSV does have a couple "taverns" and "general stores" that sold food. Before we left  I bought a pint of milk and a cookie. I do believe patrons are allowed to bring food into the village and eat inside.




Here is an amazing thing that shocked me , there was almost no one there today. I'd say there less than 100 paying customers. I couldn't believe how desolate it was. OSV is two hundred acres and we were there six hours. So folks were few and far between. This is a major attraction so I was pleasantly dumbfounded at how few people were there. The only thing I can come up with is that it was sprinkling this morning. Maybe people that planned on going changed their minds because of the rain. However, the forecast was for cloudy to clear skies, so I don't know. I was just happy there wasn't any crowds to deal with.

Anything you would need to know about OSV is on their website, which is easily found with a google search. Admission for an adult was $24.

Riverboat tour

Grist Mill Grinding Stones