VERMONT - Southern

This historic museum features 19th century milling equipment, farm tools and machinery. The structure houses much of its original equipment, including all the grain elevators and storage bins. Implements from the Vermont Farm Machinery Company are also stored in the building, as well as household articles, antique signs, and hand tools used by various craftsmen that were there when the business closed in the early 1960s, and the original sleigh for the Mill, as well as the family sleigh, all belonging to the Adams Family.

The American Museum of Fly Fishing, home to the world’s largest collection of angling art and angling-related items, brings the history of fly fishing alive for anglers and others. The museum contains an impressive exhibit gallery space, a library and reading room, a museum store, and other resources. The exhibit’s opening section contains an illustrated timeline, which takes the visitor from Aelian’s comments on fly fishing in 200 A.D. to the developments and issues surrounding the sport today. Cost: Adults, $5; children over age 10, $3.

Items include the largest public collection of paintings by the great American folk artist Grandma Moses, which draws visitors from around the world. Also on permanent exhibit is Vermont-made furniture, Ralph Earl’s painting of Bennington in 1798, a 1924 Martin Wasp touring car, one of 20 made in Vermont by Carl Martin, and Bennington pottery featuring Norton pottery, Fenton pottery and Redware. The Flag Gallery features one of the oldest “stars and stripes” in existence – the Bennington Flag.

As the largest art and heritage repository in southern Vermont, the museum houses diverse collections reflecting the history of early Vermont and historically associated areas of New York and Massachusetts. Art and artifacts range in date from the early 18th century to the present.

Brattleboro Museum & Art Center is a small, cutting-edge, non-collecting museum founded in 1972 and housed in a historic train station. Compelling new exhibits by regional and internationally acclaimed artists are shown each season. The mission statement of the center is to present art and ideas in ways that inspire, educate, and engage people of all ages. Admission: Adult, $6; seniors, $4; student, $3; free to members and children ages 5 and younger. Information: www.brattleboromuseum.org

Display of Norman Rockwell’s artistry, featuring work he did while living in Arlington from 1939 to 1953. There are Saturday Evening Post covers, illustrations, prints, and gift shop in the former 19th-century church. In mid-May there is an annual reunion of the townspeople who posed as Rockwell’s models. Cost: $1.

The Elizabeth de C. Wilson Museum, is a secure repository and display space for the Arts Center’s permanent collection, now approaching 800 pieces, of 19th and 20th century works, including the world’s largest collection of works by Luigi Lucioni, and a venue in which to host major national and international traveling exhibitions. Cost: Adults, $ 8; students, $ 3.

This natural history museum in the foothills of the Green Mountains offer mounted specimens of 600 native New England birds and mammals as well as live hawks and owls. The museum presents an amphibian and reptile exhibit and a wildflower exhibit in the summer and fall. A good side trip is a hike up nearby Mount Olga. The museum has one of the largest collections of mounted birds to be found in New England, containing over 600 birds in 100 small dioramas. Raptor center has live exhibits of owls and hawks. Cost: Adults, $5; children, $2; seniors, $3.