Salem Towne House

Old Sturbridge Village is a re-creation of a typical early nineteenth-century rural New England town, complete with a 200-acre historic working farm. Originally intended to showcase the impressive antique collection of eyeglass manufacturer and closet tool collector Albert Wells, this immersive living museum has grown to include the neoclassical Salem Towne House—built in Charlton, Massachusetts, but transplanted here in 1952. In the early 1800s the house was inhabited by businessman and farmer Salem Towne Jr. (two of whose ancestors were accused of witchcraft and executed in Salem in 1692), his wife, Sally Towne, and their seven children.

The Village remains popular among student groups, who visit the blacksmith’s workshop, make bread from scratch, and ride a horse and carriage to tour the stately grounds, alongside a guide in full colonial-era dress.