Shelburne Museum

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Shelburne
5555 Shelburne Rd, Shelburne, Vermont 05482(802) 985-3346

Description: Situated on 45 acres near scenic Lake Champlain, the Shelburne Museum boasts a collection of over 150,000 works of art and Americana, exhibited in a village-like setting of 39 modern and historic building, including 18th...Read More

Hours:
May-Oct., daily 10-5 Close
Price:
$18
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The Stencil House Photo - Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont

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Results 1-4of 4 Reviews

Shelburne Museum

by JoansDream

Concord, New Hampshire

August 9, 2005

This place is fabulous! It is 45 acres with 39 exhibition structures. Twenty-five historic structures have been moved there, including a New England lighthouse, a 220-foot paddle boat ,and a covered bridge. There is also a huge collection of ...Read more

From journal Vermont...Not Just for Skiers

Shelburne Museum

by Ellum Enopee

New York, New York

November 8, 2003

Best of IgoUgo I’ve been to museums in New York, London, Paris, Cairo, Amsterdam, and Los Angeles, but I have never seen one quite like (or quite as expensive as) the Shelburne Museum. It’s the largest museum in Vermont, and statistics don’t lie, right? 39 ...Read more I’ve been to museums in New York, London, Paris, Cairo, Amsterdam, and Los Angeles, but I have never seen one quite like (or quite as expensive as) the Shelburne Museum. It’s the largest museum in Vermont, and statistics don’t lie, right? 39 buildings/structures, 44 acres of grounds, 400 bushes and trees, 150,000 objets d’art-–and on the day we visited, about 1,000 girl scouts in little brown vests festooned with patches and pins. Yes, it was a girl scouts convention, and the museum had opened early just for the girls in brown.

Shelburne Museum takes a unique view of what is and isn’t museum-worthy. It’s an interactive cross-section of Americana, taken through time. Boats, entire buildings, even a covered bridge have been painstakingly transported to the grounds from locations in Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York. These structures are then filled--with period furniture in some cases, with craftspeople working on projects with period tools, or in some cases, interesting artifacts that just don’t fit anywhere else. A 125-foot circus parade made of miniature figurines, for example, occupies the entire length of a circular barn. While the craftsmanship was nothing special, the parade is a fascinating look at the culture of a bygone era.

The historic "Stencil House", circa 1804, could have been the residence of one of Martha Stewart’s ancestors. Elaborate stenciled walls form the backdrop for hand made painted furniture, including a clock around whose face someone has accidentally painted numbers going from I to XIII. Oops!

The 1800 Blacksmith shop is a great place to watch a demonstration in progress. Just keep your hands and toes away from the fire and the red-hot pokers in it.

Although the Apothecary Shop was built for the museum in 1959, its contents are as authentic as they are fascinating. See how pills were made, what powders and salves were prescribed, and admire the fiendishly complex cash register.

One of my favorite sites was the Railroad Station, where a private rail car was on display. Unfortunately this luxuriously appointed car was closed to the public at the time. Oddly, the museum had stationed a docent outside it anyway. He had been standing outside the closed exhibit for several hours and was pretty grumpy by the time we met him. Grudgingly, he explained that wealthy city-dwellers used to have their own private cars hooked up to a public locomotive for trips up North. Some had private railway stations built near their summer homes so they could disembark and finish their trips by horse and carriage.

These few sites are just a sampling of what you and your family can visit at the Shelburne Museum. The old Jail, steamboat Ticonderoga, working Sawmill with waterwheel, and Lake Champlain Lighthouse are just a few of the other exhibitions we visited-–and we only saw about half of it!

Hours of Operation

4/13-5/17
1-4pm
$10 adults/$5 kids
Select buildings open only

5/18-10/27
10am-5pm
$17.50 adults/$8.75 kids
All buildings open

From journal Slice of Summer Heaven in Vermont

Shelburne Museum

by Tenia

Rothesay, New Brunswick

May 30, 2004

Bring your walking shoes, as it's a huge 45 acre museum with multiple buildings and exhibits and great gardens. Not to be missed is the 220 foot steamboat Ticonderoga. There were 25 historic structures, including a general store, covered bridge, ...Read more

From journal Things to see within an hour's drive of Stowe

Shelburne Museum

by susanf

Minneapolis, Minnesota

December 21, 2000

Best of IgoUgo The Shelburne is a museum dedicated to the preservation of traditional Vermont life. Its large and beautifully landscaped grounds contain preserved (or reconstructed) buildings typical of the region, including a round barn, a Lake Champlain ...Read more

From journal December week in Northern Vermont

Shelburne Museum

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