The Culture of Waltham — Museums And Mansions

Waltham and museums, a great combination!  I have friends coming into town for a week and I've been looking in depth into Waltham destinations. Everyone thinks they have to leave Waltham to see things great and small.  You don't, and I'll show you below. Checking some facts for this blog, I found out some new things I hadn't known before.

Cedar Hill Girl Scout Museum

I didn't even know there was a Girl Scout Museum at Cedar Hill.  It is what its name suggests - a history of Girl Scouting begun under Juliette Gordon Low in 1912. And, there are opportunities for hands-on activities.  Who knew?

Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation 

The museum is such a fun place for history buffs and technology geeks alike.  The museum is located in the historic power plant of the Boston Manufacturing Company Mill.  The first floor is a mixture of Waltham History .The horse-drawn Waltham Fire Department 1 engine is there).

Gore Place  

Gore Place, the historic home of Gov. Christopher Gore, is so vibrant with activities that its hard to describe in brief.  Gore Place = dusty old mansion, right?  Wrong!  The mansion alone has a state of the art fire suppression system made specifically to preserve it in case of fire but not destroy the historic handiwork, but, I digress.  There is a farm, historic tours, Christmas tea, snowshoeing in the winter, Sheepshearing Festival, scavenger hunts, musical concerts, charity benefits and you can rent the grounds for a wedding if you wish. 

Lyman Estate/The Vale

  From their Web site: "Salem, Massachusetts, architect Samuel McIntire designed the Federal-style mansion in 1793 for wealthy shipping merchant Theodore Lyman. The family enlarged the house in 1882 in the Victorian style and then remodeled it in the Colonial Revival style in 1917. The property contains historic greenhouses, a carriage house and gardener’s cottage, and thirty-seven acres of pleasure grounds, gardens, and woodlands."  The greenhouses are open year-round and are a beautiful spot to walk in Waltham.

Other museums include:

National Archives and Record Administration, New England Region. 

Paine Estate/Stonehurst 

Rose Art Museum   

Waltham Historical Society

Waltham Museum

  
The best part is that many of these museums offer discounts to military personnel and families. Seniors, children and you can get passes to some of them if you sign up for them in advance at the !