Museum of Our Industrial Heritage — Attraction in Greenfield

Hidden gem! We easily requested a weekday tour via email and a person named Jim communicated quickly and they accommodated us for a Tuesday. We were early, but out tour guide was already waiting there for us. Scott gave us a thorough, hour-long tour of the open museum rooms and the workshop. He asked before we started if there were any areas of interest and focused on those areas - a custom tour? Yes, please! Scott is incredibly knowledgeable about the industrial history of the area, the museum/building itself and the small group of volunteers who work with town leaders to preserve and important and interesting part of our area’s history at this museum. We even got to thread our own nuts and bolts! What impressed me most is that the 7 and 12 year old gave it “78/10” and “23/10” respectively. Open on Saturdays, and admission is by donation as of July 2021. Small but mighty, this place. Excellent stop on your way...

This museum is a must see for anyone interested in the historic role of Greenfield and Franklin County in American history. The professionally designed exhibits reveal the story of how Greenfield became the hub of the dawning industrial age, with technological innovations spurning a thriving local economy and prosperity that is an inspiration and relevant today. And don't miss the hands-on museum tool room. The friendly and knowledgeable museum staff will give you a personal guided tour of the exhibits. Whether you're a local or someone visiting the area, you will come away with a deeper understanding of the historic events and people who contributed to the extraordinary history of...

There’s a lot more here than you might expect. A useful way of thinking about this would be to imagine that a hundred years from now there’s a Museum of Digital Electronics in Palo Alto…. at a time when everyone has forgotten the term “Silicon Valley”. Greenfield and the Connecticut River Valley towns are the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution, and the key to that revolution was the invention of precision tools.

This is stuff that you probably studied in college. I was a History major, and I sorta kinda thought I understood…. but seeing it makes it much, much clearer.

There are good exhibits, but it’s really about the docents. They’re terrific, and they really know...