Historic Wakefield NH

Antique Loom Demonstration Weaver Craig Evans​ - Aug. 16

     The public is invited to watch a master heritage weaver at work in the historic setting of the Heritage Centre at Wakefield Corner/Stage Stop Museum on Wednesday, August 16 beginning at 10 a.m. Heritage Hand-Weaver Craig F. Evans of Brookfield, who donated the antique Gage Family counter balance loom currently on display at the Heritage Centre, returns for a second presentation and demonstration at the loom. This event is free and open to the public. The Heritage Centre, located at 27 Province Lake Road at Wakefield Corner – and just a stone’s throw from the historic hay scales at the corner of Wakefield Road – is open for the season on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon until Columbus Day weekend.​

     Wakefield Heritage Commission member and docent Phil Twombley will give a special presentation on the history of ice harvesting in the Wakefield area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Please join us on Saturday, August 12 at 1 p.m. at Union Station to learn more about our town's history in the ice harvesting business. Two ice companies harvested and shipped ice from Lovell Lake with 16 to 20 train carloads heading to Boston and beyond every day.  Ice was harvested in the winter and stored in huge ice houses to allow for year round distribution. How cool is that!

The official website of the town of wakefield heritage commission

​​Established in 1993, the Wakefield Heritage Commission has developed plans to restore areas of the community that reflect the importance of Wakefield in transportation, manufacturing, and farming. With the generous support of volunteers, financial donors, and grants, the first building constructed in the village of Sanbornville, the Garvin Building, was restored. Upon completion, the Wakefield Heritage Commission sold the Garvin Building. It remains a focal point and tribute to the history of the community. In recent years, the Commission, thanks to a small army of talented and generous volunteers, has restored Union Station and the Freight House in Union, the Lovell-Union Grange, and the Spinney Meeting House. In 2014, the Newichawannock Bridge and Canal, built in 1868, was designated as the town's second National Historic District and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  

Coming soon...

Ice Harvesting presentation at Union Station - Aug. 12

Union Station 

The original station was built approximately in 1854 and replaced by a new station in 1911. This station served as a passenger embarkation and debarkation point for local people, and for many years housed the Union Post Office. Today, Union Station houses numerous artifacts, photographs and antiques related to the region's manufacturing, ice harvesting and railroading heritage.  

Model Railroad Project

Make sure to visit the Heritage Park Railroad Museum this season and marvel at the HO scale model of the Boston and Maine Railroad as it served the five villages of Wakefield in 1909. The model was painstakingly researched for historical accuracy. A team of volunteer ferroenquinologists, which means "students of the iron horse," has dedicated countless hours and resources to the project, which has been in the works for nearly four years. Visitors of all ages will enjoy the craftsmanship!  Click on the link to the "1909 B&M Railroad Model" above for more information and photos.