The Stone House Museum is a historic complex and home near the Town Common in Belchertown, Massachusetts, US, that houses the art, artifacts, archives and museum of the Belchertown Historical Association. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The Museum site, a centerpiece of the Belchertown Center Historic District, includes a former home, carriage barn, printing press building and school house.
The Stone House itself contains examples of furniture, china and decorative accessories made in the 1700s and 1800s. Its textile collection contains samplers, early crewelwork, linens, quilts and an extensive selection of period clothing. The archives contain a collection of early Belchertown government, social and church documents, diaries, manuscripts, ledgers, genealogical records, military records, records of town organizations, early business establishments and a large collection of photographs. [5]
The Belchertown Historical Association, founded in 1903, "exists to preserve historical artifacts pertaining to the Town of Belchertown; to maintain the Stone House Museum; and to foster knowledge of and interest in the history of Belchertown by opening the Museum to the public and by offering educational programs, lectures and events." [5]
The main structure was originally erected at its current site in 1827 by Jonathan Dwight (1770-1834), a grandson of Hannah Lyman (1708-1792) and Nathaniel Dwight (1712-1784), who were among the Town's first settlers. The home was a wedding present for his daughter, Julia Diantha, who lived here with her husband for a short time. The house, a Federal-style home made with local stone, was acquired by the Belchertown Historical Association in 1922 after Dwight's granddaughter, Harriette Dwight Longley, bequeathed her estate to furnish and maintain it as a museum. It is furnished to reflect life from the 1840s to the 1890s. [5]