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Date: 2/21/2022
BELCHERTOWN - Despite a hiatus caused by COVID-19, the Stone House Museum will once again offer tours of the historic house, put together and maintained by the Belchertown Historical Association.
Randi Shenkman, the vice president of the Belchertown Historical Association’s Board of Trustees, said in normal times, the association offers tours of the museum during the warmer months.
“We give tours from Mother’s Day weekend until Columbus Day weekend although we have been ending the first weekend in October instead of the second. We also give tours by appointment so sometimes we have boy scout groups or senior citizen groups come in, so we accommodate people at will,” she said.
Through fundraisers, Secretary Sally Shattuck said the association can fund renovations and its other work.
“We support ourselves with fundraisers, we have a yuletide fundraiser, we do memberships, we have a big Mother’s Day opening day with a plant sale and the best old bag sale ever – we sell all kinds of pocketbooks and suitcases – and then in the fall we do a living history day,” she said.
On top of the tours and fundraising events, Shenkman said the museum used to offer lectures in the colder months. And despite shutting down because of COVID-19, the plan is to reopen for the museum’s 100th anniversary.
“We are opening this year and assuming we are able to stay open for a little while, we will start to have some activities and lectures to commemorate and maybe a big party like an ice cream social,” Shenkman said.
Many of the artifacts on display were gathered by Willard Stebbins, one of the original members of the association.
“[Stebbins] was one of the original trustees and he went all around Belchertown and a little outside collecting things, so a lot of the furniture, tables and portraits are because of him. He really worked hard to fill the museum with stuff and he knew what to look for,” she said.
Despite its name, Shenkman said the Belchertown Historical Association is not a function of the town, it is a private organization.
Shenkman said the house was built in 1827.
“It was inhabited until 1896 by some members of the Dwight family. Between 1896 and 1922, the family argued about what to do about the house and the property. At that time there were no other buildings on the property,” she said.
After weighing their options, Shenkman said the family eventually offered the house to the association in 1922.
“One member of the Dwight clan that was trying to figure out what to do with the house and made them a proposition that she would give them the money to buy the house if they maintained as a property in perpetuity, preferably as a show place for the Dwight family’s history, and they agreed,” she said.
During a visit in 1922, Shenkman said Henry Ford was so dissatisfied with the way the carriages were being displayed he donated money to build a barn to house the carriages.
“When Henry Ford came over to the museum to see our collection, he was very disturbed because the carriages were out randomly on the property exposed to everything. So, he gave us the money to give the stone barn in the back,” she said. “That’s called the Ford Annex.”
In addition to the Ford Annex, Shattuck said the museum grounds also house the building for the original Belchertown Sentinel and an old schoolhouse.
“We acquired it a few years ago and renovated the outside but have not gotten to the inside yet. It is the Washington District Schoolhouse,” she said.
Unlike most museums, Shattuck said the idea of the Stone House Museum is to capture what the house would have looked like in the 1800s.
“Even though it does not look like it, the house is usually set up like a house. Some museums you go into it is just major displays of everything, this one is set up like a house, yes we do have a lot of things on display but it is set up so the dining room table is set up for dinner,” she said.
One of the association’s current goals is to renovate the schoolhouse on the property.
“We will have a better place to have people in the evenings, we can do art shows out there or lectures and have it be more than a schoolhouse, it will be another community center we can use,” Shattuck said.
On top of renovating the schoolhouse, the association is also working on repainting the main building.
Shenkman added that the association is actively looking for new volunteers.
“We are really looking for people who would be interested in helping. They do not have to take over management, but we are looking for people that are reliable who like to give tours or work in the garden,” she said. “It is really fun; I would not have been here for 36 years if it was not.”
Along with volunteers, Shenkman added that the association is always accepting donations depending on what items they already have on display.
The Stone House Museum is located at 20 Maple St.