Central VT has museums that celebrate Lake Champlain to maple
American Precision Museum
196 Main Street
Windsor, VT 05089
Phone: 802-674-5781
Open: late May-October 31, daily, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The museum preserves the heritage of the mechanical arts, celebrates the ingenuity of mechanical inventors and draftsmen, and explores the effects of their work on our everyday lives. Housed in the original Robbins & Lawrence Armory, the museum holds the largest collection of historically significant machine tools in the nation. Cost: Adults, $6; students, $4; family, $18.
Bethel Historical Society Museum
Church Street
Bethel, VT 05032
Phone: 802-234-9413
Open: July-August, Sunday, 2-5 p.m. or by apppintment
The museum is located on the upper floor of the Brick Church on the green (1816). There are written records, paintings, photographs from the Bethel area, 18th and 19th century room vignettes. Exhibits change annually. Admission is free.
Black River Academy Museum
14 High Street
Ludlow, VT 05149
Phone: 802-228-5050
Open: June-Columbus Day, Tuesday–Saturday, 1–4 p.m.; winter hours by appointment
The three-story academy building, which once housed the Academy (Calvin Coolidge's alma mater), is now a historical museum for the town of Ludlow. There are academy memorabilia, 19th-century furnishings, costumes, tools, farm implements, a Finnish exhibit, Coolidge memorabilia, and a textile school offering courses in weaving, spinning and quilt making.
Chaffee Center for the Visual Arts
16 South Main Street (Route 7)
Rutland, VT 05701
Phone: 802-775-0356
Open: Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4 p.m., closed Tuesday
The Chaffee Art Center represents more than 200 artists working in virtually every medium from painting, sculpture, and photography to ceramics, printmaking, and fine furniture. Housed in a Victorian mansion. A gift shop is open on the premises.
Farrar-Mansur House Museum
Route 100, On the Green
Weston, VT 05161
Phone: 802-824-8190
Open: Memorial Day-July 1, Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m.; July 1-Labor Day, daily, 1-4 p.m.
Originally built as a tavern in 1797, the house is now operated as a historic house museum by the Weston Historical Society. Collection includes 18th and 19th century decorative arts and furnishings. Cost: Adults, $2.
Green Mountain Perkins Academy
Route 106
South Woodstock, VT 05071
Phone: 802-457-3779
Open: July-August, Sunday, 2-5 p.m.
The 3-story, 19th-century school in original condition serves as a repository and archival center for material related to the academy and 19th-century community activities in South Woodstock. Admission is free.
Henry Sheldon Museum Of Vermont History
1 Park Street
Middlebury, VT 05753
Phone: 802-388-2117
Open: Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 pm.
One of Vermont's premier collections of furniture, art, textiles, tools and other artifacts displayed in an 1829 brick Federal style marble merchant's home. Extensive archival collections in the Stewart-Swift Research Center. Changing art and history exhibits in the Cerf gallery. Museum Shop, gardens, public programs and special events year round. Cost: Adults, $5; youth age 6-18, $3; students, $3.50; seniors, $4.50; family, $12.
Historical Society Museum
Town House on the Common
Royalton, VT 05068
Phone: 802-763-8830
Open: By appointment
A local history museum in a restored 1840 town hall with exhibit rooms, a library, and 1844 schoolhouse. Articles relate to the town’s history.
Hubbardton Battlefield and Museum
5696 Monument Hill Road
Hubbardton, VT 05732
Phone: 802-759-2412
Open: May 27-October 9, Wednesday-Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
4472 Basin Harbor Road
Vergennes, VT 05491
Phone: 802-475-2022
Open: May 22-October 31, daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Four acres of exhibits, shipwrecks nautical archaology, antique boats and more. Explore the vibrant history of the Champlain Valley through its military, commercial and regional periods. Climb aboard the 54' replica gunboat Philadelphia II. Twelve exhibit buildings, collections, working forge, boat building courses and workshops, replica gunboat, shipwrecks, nautical archaeology center, antique boats, boat livery, visitor center and museum store, field study, outreach, summer programs. Cost: Adults,$10; seniors, $9; students age 5-17, $5.
Middletown Springs Historical Society Museum
On the Green
Middlebury, VT 05757
Phone: 802-235-2561
Open: Memorial Day- October 31, Sunday, 2-4 p.m. and by appointment
Exhibits focus on the history of Middletown Springs, including botanical specimens, artifacts from the horsepower factory, the Montvert Hotel and photographs. Cost: Free admission.
Montshire Museum of Science
One Montshire Road
Norwich, VT 05055
Phone: 802-649-2200
Open: Year-round, daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, and New Year’s Day
This hands-on museum offers dozens of exhibits relating to the natural and physical sciences, ecology, and technology. The building is located on a 110-acre site near the Connecticut River, and the museum’s outdoor environment is a large part of the visitor experience. Science Park is a two-acre exhibit area in a park-like setting. Also outside is a network of easy-to-moderate walking trails for visitors of all ages and fitness levels. Cost: Adults, $9; children age 3 to 17, $7.
Morse Farm Sugarhouse and Museum
Main Street
East Montpelier, VT 05651
Phone: 802-223-2740
Open: year-round, daily
Free sugar house tours and tasting, multimedia displays in a real woodshed theater, a nature trail, country store, and an outdoor Vermont farm life museum make up the Morse Farm experience, and whimsical carved folklife characters.
New England Maple Museum
Route 7
Rutland, VT 05763
Phone: 802-483-9414
Open: Daily, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 pm.
Visitors to this museum will learn all about the manufacture of Vermont maple syrup. Exhibits include demonstrations of sap collecting, candy-making, and syrup making. A slide show and tastings are included, and a gift shop is open on the premises.
Norman Rockwell Museum of Vermont
Route 4 East
Rutland, VT 05701
Phone: 802-773-6095
Open: Daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
A comprehensive and chronological display covering the entire span and diversity of Rockwell's career. The collection shows the development of Rockwell as a commercial illustrator and reflecting the political, economic and cultural history of the united Sates in the first three quarters of this century. Collection dates from 1911 until his death in 1978. Gift shop and gallery, in-house matting and custom framing.
Old Constitution House and Museum
Main Street
Windsor, VT 05089
Phone: 802-672-3773
Open: Late May- mid-October, Wednesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
The tavern where Vermont's first state constitution was written. The museum includes exhibits of New England antiquities, as well as the little known "Republic of Vermont." The Old Constitution House features period rooms that reflect its use as an early tavern. A large interpretive area in the early 20th century tea room examines the events surrounding the signing of the Vermont Constitution. Cost: Adults, $2.50; children 14 and younger, free.
Porter Music Box Museum
US Route 66
Randolph, VT 05060
Phone: 802-728-9694
Open: May-October, Monday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; mid-August-mid-October, Sunday, noon-4 p.m.; closed November-April
Collection of antique music boxes, musical automata, and a Steinway reproducing piano. The museum houses an exquisite collection of music boxes, including several from the collections of Louis Hoone and Ruth Bornand.
Poultney Historical Society Museum
2751 Vt Route 140
East Poultney, VT 05764
Phone: 802-287-2330
Open: June-August, Saturday- Sunday, 1–4 p.m. and by appointment.
The society has several buildings it has restored as museums: the Victorian High School (1896), the Melodeon Factory (1854), and the former Union Academy building (1791). Displays are of local clothing, tools, melodeons, carriages, furniture, and metalworks.
Randolph Historical Museum
Salisbury Street
Randolph, VT 05061
Phone: 802-728-5398
Open: First Sunday of the month., 2-4 p.m. and by appointment
This museum features three furnished period rooms, the gravestone of Justin Morgan, and a turn-of-the-century drugstore.
The Vermont Folklife Center
88 Main Street
Middlebury, VT 05753
Phone: 802-388-4964
Open: Call for hours of operation
The Vermont Folklife Center preserves and presents the folk arts and cultural traditions of Vermont through exhibits, media, publication and educational projects. The center has made preservation of the spoken word the core of its endeavors, and its archive now comprises more than 3,800 taped interviews, which have been transcribed and electronically indexed.
TW Wood Gallery and Arts Center
36 College Street
Montpelier, VT 05602
Phone: 802-828-8743
Open: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday-Sunday, noon - 4 p.m.; Thursday, noon-8 p.m.
On the Vermont College campus in Montpelier, the gallery maintains a continuous display of the paintings of Thomas Waterman Wood. Exhibitions displaying the work of regional contemporary artists and craftsmen. Dinner Auction in the fall. Illumination in early December.
USS Montpelier Museum
39 Main Street
Montpelier, VT 05601
Phone: 802-828-0622
Open: Year-round during regular business hours
A museum based on the naval history of United States ships are named Montpelier. This city, the state capital, is the birthplace of Admiral George Dewey.
Vermont Historical Society Museum
109 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05602
Phone: 802-828-2291
Open: May–October, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sundays, noon-4 p.m.
Headquarters of the state historical society, the museum offers exhibits and programs revolving around Vermont's history and historical figures. Cost: Adults, $5; seniors, students, children, $3; families, $12.
Vermont Institute of Natural Science Nature Center
6565 Woodstock Road (Route 4)
Quechee, VT 05059
Phone: 802-359-5000
Open: Year round, daily, May 1-October 31, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; November 1-April 30, Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day
Outdoor exhibits of owls, eagles, falcons and other birds of prey, flight demonstrations, ecology programs about the landscape and wildlife of Vermont, walking trails, and a nature shop featuring science kits, field guides, binoculars, toys and gifts. Cost: Adults: $8; children 3-16, $6.50.
Vermont Marble Museum
62 Main Street
Proctor, VT 05765
Phone: 802-459-2300
Open: May-late October, 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
One of the world's largest displays of marble features historic exhibits, sculpting demonstrations, carvings of U.S. presidents. A gift shop and movie theatre are also on site. Cost: Adults, $7; seniors, $5; teens, $4.
Vermont Ski Museum
One South Main Street at The Perkins Building
Brandon, VT 05672
Phone: 802-253-9911
Open: Every day except Tuesdays, noon-5 p.m.; closed mid-April to Memorial Day and Halloween to Thanksgiving.
This museum contains exhibits that focus on the history of skiing in Vermont. Cost: $3 per person; $5 for families.
