OUR HOME
Physical Aspects of Our Museum Property
Pictured above is the Ascutney Mill Dam Manufacturing Complex in the 1890's. The picture below is how it looks today.
The property consists of approximately five acres of land and contains five buildings. They are:
- A circa 1849 single family, 11 room home, now the museum’s administrative office, housing our historic paper collection, library, fragile objects and photographic archives.
- A small outbuilding (currently used as automobile storage) which had been used as an ice cream factory and originally as a blacksmith shop.
- A 1792 building which in its early life had been the printing office of Alden Spooner, the early printer for Dartmouth College. This building, saved from demolition, was moved to the site in October of 1995 and is used for general storage.
- A Civil War era (1864) three story mill (34' wide x 112' long) originally used as a drop forge and later as a factory for woodenware specialties. This building is on the state register of historic sites.
- A Civil War era (1864) three story power house and manufacturing facility (32' x 80'). This building is also on the state register of historic sites.
The Mill Brook flows through the five acres. The 1834 Ascutney Mill Dam, a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark is upstream of and immediately adjacent to the property. While the Town of Windsor owns the dam, the museum property still retains water rights. It is from this historic dam that we hope to develop most of our renewable energy exhibit and derive the electricity for warming the buildings.
Edwin, managing the parade, bought this 1796 building for a dollar, moved it a quarter mile, and set it on a new brick foundation where it has become the 5th building in our complex.