Stone House Museum

The Stone House Museum is a historic complex and home in Belchertown, Massachusetts, US, that houses the art, artifacts, carriages and archives of the Belchertown Historical Association.

The Museum site, a centerpiece of the Belchertown Center Historic District, includes a Federal-style home of local fieldstone, carriage house, printing press building and schoolhouse. It is located at 20 Maple Street (U.S. Route 202) near the southeastern corner of the Town Common.

It is a member of the Pioneer Valley History Network, a consortium of historical sites, museums and associations in Western Massachusetts.

The Stone House itself contains some 30,000 artifacts with examples of furniture, china, glass, plates, decorative accessories and children's toys made in the 1700s and 1800s. Its textile collection contains needlework, samplers, early crewelwork, linens, quilts and an extensive selection of period clothing. The Museum contains a collection of the finest work of sculptor John Rogers.

Its archives contain a collection of early government records, books authored by local authors, poets and professors, social and church documents, diaries, newspapers, manuscripts, ledgers, genealogical records, military records, family collections and correspondence, records of town organizations, early business establishments and a large collection of photographs.

The Belchertown Historical Association (BHA) "exists to preserve historical artifacts pertaining to the Town of Belchertown; to maintain the Stone House Museum; and to foster knowledge of and interest in the history of Belchertown by opening the Museum to the public and by offering educational programs, lectures and events."

The Museum is managed by a Board of Trustees, elected each spring at the Association’s annual meeting. A non-profit organization, it is supported by memberships, event admissions, contributions and bequests.

The Association sponsors events such as history days with period reenactors, Dwight Day, ice cream socials, mystery dinners, Halloween 'n History cemetery tours, Yuletide, Victorian candlelight Christmas tours and regular guided tours of the Museum from May through October.

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