Walking Tour

Muster Field Farm Museum consists of numerous historic buildings that have been saved from destruction and moved to the grounds on the historic Harvey property. 

The Museum is open year-round for a self-guided walking tour of the historic farm buildings.

On-site brochures with map are available in the parking area or in the Aiken Cottage Visitor Center

Here's a sample of what you'll find on the grounds:
(click on small pictures or map number to view larger photo; 
then hit Back button to return)

Walking Tour Map1.  Ryder Corner Schoolhouse Constructed 1810. One room to teach all students.  schoolhouse_w_text.jpg (22656 bytes)In continuous use in nearby Croydon until 1938. Stout hand-hewn frame shows the care with which it was built.

2. Hildreth Barn - Built in Cornish, NH, 1793. Special features include walls framed with studding so the boarding is horizontal; walls alsoJB-Hildreth_Barn_w_text.jpg (35067 bytes) double-boarded with air space between; unusual curved braces strengthen right-hand door

icehouse_w_text.jpg (17427 bytes)3. Watters Ice House: Blocks of ice cut from Kezar Lake during Ice Day in January are packed in sawdust and stored inside until August, when they are removed to make ice cream during Farm Days. Moved from the corner of Harvey Road and Keyser Street, site of former Sutton summer hotelspillsbury_barn_w_text.jpg (28012 bytes)

4. Hardy-Pillsbury Barn: Measures 30 by 60 feet. Dismantled and re-erected at the museum in 1988. Date 1872 on the barn indicates when it was remodeled, not the year of construction. Stood near junction of Keyser Street and Hominy Pot Road on a farm connected to two well-known Sutton families, the Hardys and the Pillsburys.corn_crib_w_text.jpg (14758 bytes)

5, 6 and 7. Corn Cribs. Used to store harvested corn; all came from area farms. The large crib apparently also used to store threshed grain; the V-shaped crib representative of a style throughout New England; the red crib from Sutton's Todd Farm.patch_w_text.jpg (15726 bytes)

8. Patch Blacksmith Shop: Started life as a section house from Boston & Maine Railroad. Moved to the Norris Patch Farm in Hopkinton and then to museum in 1982. Features an ox sling to control animals during shoeing.

ezekiel_w_text.jpg (11129 bytes)9. Ezekiel Little Barn: Originally stood near Gile Pond in Sutton. Measures 32 by 60 feet. Designed in English-style with entrance door on long side under the eaves, rather than at the gable end. Date 1831 on western end above heart-shaped cutout.

church_sheds_w_text.jpg (20962 bytes)10. Sutton Church Sheds: Long sheds in this style built at churches throughout New England for horses and carriages while owners attended services. These sheds from Union Meeting House, Sutton Mills, circa 1912.JB-Ticket_Booth_w_text.jpg (22344 bytes)

 

11. Ticket Booth/Bradford Newbury Fair: Unusual 1898 octagonal ticket booth served as the business center of the fair which ran until 1927.

hazen_blacksmith_w_text.jpg (23483 bytes)12. Hazen Blacksmith Shop: [more details....] Built early 1900's. Fine example of a farm shop. Moved from Hazen Farm, North Sutton, famous in its day for ox shoeing. Also features a sling, which controlled the huge beasts as the smith worked.springhouse_w_text.jpg (8663 bytes)

13. The Well House: Built from farm-produced materials to cover an old well that serviced the Harvey barns which stood in this area.

14. Bradford Mineral Spring House: [more details....] Only survivor of large complex of buildings that made up the Bradford Springs Hotel in neighboring Bradford. Contains pump to bring up the reportedly healing mineral water for drinking and bathing. Built in 1881.

farmstand_w_text.jpg (33182 bytes)15. Brooder House: The Farm Stand for Muster Field Farm operates seasonally from this former chicken brooding house.

harveybarn_w_text.jpg (12550 bytes)16. Harvey Barn: An original structure on the farm. Moved from across the street. The name "Henry Mason Todd" appears on one of the beams and he is assumed to be the builder. Now houses chickens, cattle and stores hay from the farm's fields.

17. The Matthew Harvey Homestead: Built 1787. Excellent example of rural New Hampshire architecture. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Click here for full description.homestead_photo_w_text.jpg (24004 bytes)

 

 

 

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