About the Williams~Boltwood Project
Discovering, Sharing & Preserving What Matters, includes working with a team of experts to learn the history of the property, the dwelling & all the family’s artifacts to showcase the importance of one family’s contribution, for establishing a successful commerce hub that formed the cornerstone of a community. This discovery phase will reveal the social, economic & political development of a quintessential New England town from the time of the Revolutionary war through the 20th century.
Our Vision
The Williams-Boltwood Project will be a new kind of community hub - an exciting space where people to come together to work, learn, play, and connect. Visitors will find an interactive, forward-thinking destination that has
space for small business owners, with historically preserved community meeting rooms. The tavern will be a comfortable drop-in space to share a cup of coffee and meet up with friends or host small events.
Whether you are working or playing here you will be surrounded by the rich history of the building and its thousands of artifacts from the 1700 & 1800s. When the work day is over, workshops and cultural activities will be available for a wide-reaching audience.
Preserving the Williams-Boltwood House is like keeping a "time machine" for the town of Goshen.
Here are just a few reasons why we think it's so special:
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It Tells the Story of a Town - The house isn't just a building; it’s where the town of Goshen actually started. The very first town meetings were held right inside this house over 250 years ago. By walking through the rooms, people can see exactly how a wilderness settlement grew into a real community.
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It Has a "Frozen" General Store - Inside the house is a two-story general store that looks almost exactly the same as it did in the early-1800s It still has the original counters, shelving, and even a giant wooden wheel in the attic used to hoist up heavy supplies to the 2nd floor. It’s a rare chance to see how people shopped before malls or the internet existed.
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It’s a Giant History Puzzle - Historians are using "building archaeology" to study the house. By looking at things like old handmade nails, different layers of paint, and tree rings in the wooden beams, they can solve mysteries about how the house was moved and changed over hundreds of years.
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It Holds Hidden Art - The house contains beautiful "stenciling" - patterns painted directly onto the walls from the early 1800s. Preserving the house means protecting these unique pieces of art that most people usually only see in history books.