This 1800s structure that was used in
the manufacturing of wool products is now being used as a
museum here in
Billerica. Little by little as renovations are being
done inside, the museum is beginning to grow. Some of
the
interesting items inside are:
The canal exhibit
- a brief history with pictures
that mark the path of the canal with what I believe started in
Boston, cutting through towns (including Billerica!) and then
ended up somewhere in another town. It's fascinating
considering the fact that there were no real engineers at the
time here (meaning here in Billerica to do the Billerica
part of the canal) to create such a task - and yet they did it
all through manual labor cutting through New England
rocky soil. And if you've ever tried digging through
rocky New England soil, you'll have an idea of what they went
through. I don't know if dynamite was invented then or
not - I can't remember when Alfred Nobel came up with the
invention of dynamite but if people did just dig this canal by
manual labor, it was indeed an incredible task. And then
came the railroad... which it changed it all... To find
out how, check out the history of the canal. You'll be
surprised
at the irony of it all.
The baseball
museum - which has an exhibit on the two Billerican
ballplayers Gary DiSarcina and Tom Glavine
- the ones who made
it to the big time from our town! Plus lots of other
baseball memorabilia. I was surprised
at the collection. Yes there are autographed balls from
the two Billerica players there.
A chair that actress Betty Davis is supposed to have sat
on (yes THAT Betty Davis as in "Betty Davis Eyes"
and of course who was well-known as being one of the best
actresses of all time. She was originally from Lowell,
MA.
Practically the next town over! (No you can't sit on
this. BUMMER - huh? Too bad.)
A wooden shovel dating back
to God knows when! (I can't imagine how anyone could possibly dig with a
wooden shovel so when I saw this one - I thought "gee-wiz" these
people really had it so hard.)
A clothes wringer that
was incredibly small (hard to imagine that it was used for
much of anything.)
Pictures and artifacts of the
Faulkner mills
A phonograph player that
might be a Victrola?
And the canal lock
exhibit that shows you how boats were able
to float from high to low areas without tipping
over.
(Note: Those people who first came up with the canal system were a lot smarter than I thought and a
lot more
innovative. I never realized how important the
horse really was until it came to the canals. Check it
out,
and you'll see why.) It is amazing to realize how they overcame so many obstacles with what little they
had at the
time. It is a worthwhile exhibit to look at and learn from.
And so much much more....
You just have to walk about the place to find all the hidden
treasures
inside, but it's worth it.
The museum is looking for
donations. If you have anything you'd like to donate,
why not contact them? They
are also looking for volunteers. The person who showed
me around was very knowledgeable but like the
others, is not paid for their services. They are
dedicated people interested in spending some of their personal
time to helping out. If you'd like to help out too, just
call them up and see what you can do. And please if
you do visit, please contribute whatever you can. It
goes to the museum - remember these volunteers are not
being paid (Though they deserve to be!). Address and phone number are listed
at the bottom of this page.
-Binny
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