Final Showing of Special Exhibit at Hearthside & Guided Tours at Great Road Heritage Campus 

On Sunday, August 27th, the historic sites at Lincoln's Great Road Historic Campus will host guided tours at four 19th century properties. During the heat of the summer, tours will start earlier to avoid the warmest part of the day. Included are Hearthside House Museum, the Hannaway Blacksmith Shop, the Moffett Mill and the Pullen's Corner Schoolhouse.These optional tours may be taken in any order, but there are specific starting times at each site.  A registration form is attached with the time slots to select from. It is suggested that tours start at Chase Farm where you can view a newly-completed mural of the 19th Century Great Road which gives a great overview of what this area looked like in the 1900s.  A visit to the schoolhouse and then the blacksmith shop  while you're there, and then move over to Hearthside for a tour, or hop on the shuttle bus to go to the Moffett Mill.  Since there is no order to the tours, you can visit the Mill before or after your Hearthside tour.

At Hearthside (c.1810), the tours will feature the last showing of the special exhibit "Woven Time: A History of the Talbot Family."  The Talbot family lived here from 1904-1926 and during that time brought national prominence to the house they named Hearthside and the superb hand weaving that they did in the attic. The house was also an ideal setting for photographers during the Arts & Crafts movement.  The family enjoyed their heirlooms of miniature furniture and toys which filled the home.  Learn the stories of this fascinating family plus see the special exhibits of  hand-colored photographs, weaving equipment, pattern examples, and many of the miniatures which have returned to Hearthside, as well as displays of world events during that time period that they lived here. There will be three tours offered:  10:30, 11:30 or 12:30.  The exhibit is geared toward adult interests; not appropriate for children under 10.

The Moffett Mill (c. 1812) will open at 11 am and it offers a rare opportunity to step back into a different century.  Built in 1812, this relic of the early Industrial Revolution is frozen in time, as it still appears the same as it did when its doors closed around 1900.  The mill operated with water power from the Moshassuck River and provided custom work and repairs for area businesses and farms, from wagons, buggies and tools to laces for shoes and corsets around the period of the Civil War.  The original equipment and tools are still in place, just as they were 120 years ago.  A shuttle transport will drop off and pick up visitors on a set schedule, as this is the only safe access to the Mill. The last tour is at 1:15 p.m. Admission to the Mill  is included in the admission fee at Hearthside, or if only visiting the Mill, it is $5/person. The only safe access to the Mill is by the Campus shuttle van, which leaves continuously from Hearthside.          

At Chase Farm Park is the charming one-room Pullen's Corner Schoolhouse (c. 1850), also known as the "Hot Potato Schoolhouse." It was Lincoln's last operating one-room schoolhouse, from its opening in 1850 till closing in 1922. Bring the kids to experience what students from kindergarten to grade 8 did as they all learned together in one classroom; sit at an old school desk and write on slates, get your lesson of the day from the school marm, or put on the dunce cap if you don't pay attention in class.  And discover what old-fashioned games were played during recess out in the field. Visits to the schoolhouse are $5/family payable in cash upon arrival, or included as part of the general admission for tours of the full Campus.  The schoolhouse opens at 10:30 and will accept the last visitors at 1:30 p.m.    

The newly-installed artist mural of "Great Road in the 19th Century" pulls all the history of this area together in a detailed pen-and-ink illustration that is located outside of the Chase Farm Visitors Center, in front of the schoolhouse.  

At the Hannaway Blacksmith Shop (c. 1880), the blacksmith demonstrates at the forge while explaining the history of this original shop and the blacksmithing trade that occurred here.  Admission is free and visitors are welcome to stay as little or as long as they like. This is a drop-in visit so no advance scheduling is required. 

Admittance times for the tours are staggered, therefore advance registration is recommended, although walk-ins are accepted.  

General admission at $12 includes the tour and exhibit at Hearthside, plus the other three sites or pay for individual site as quoted.

Visitors are asked to check in and pay admission at Hearthside first before heading out on the tours. The shuttle van leaves from Hearthside and runs continuously between the sites.  Parking is available across from the museum at 677 Great Road.