Schedule of Activities
Aptucxet Trading Post Museum Complex is open Memorial Day Weekend through Columbus Day Weekend.
- Open Weekdays plus Saturdays: 10:00am to 4:00pm
- Sundays: 2:00pm to 5:00pm
- Closed on Mondays
- Open by appointment for bus tours and school groups in May and October (after Columbus Day).
The Bourne Historical Society, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization. The charge for admission to the Aptucxet Trading Post Museum and its grounds are:
| Adults | $4.00 |
| Children 6-18 | $2.00 |
| Seniors and AAA | $3.50 |
| Groups of 10+ | $3.50 |
| Family | $10.00 |
Special rates are available for students and pre-arranged group tours. We have a turnaround for buses to drop visitors off at the Trading Post, with a parking area near the Windmill Gift Shop.
Bourne Historical Society
2008 Season
Second Wednesday Gatherings
Jonathan Bourne Historical Center
30 Keene street, Bourne Village
March 12
7 PM
General Leonard Wood - Donald DuBerger
General Wood was a physician whose career inclided acting asChief of Staff of the United States Army. He serves as militaty governor of Cuba, govornor general of the Phillipians, and personal physican to Presidents Grover Cleverland and William McKinley.
May 14
7PM
Indians Before the Pilgrims, Way, Way Before the Pilgrims!
Tonya Largy, Director, Robbins Museum, Middleboro
In a state with such a rich Colonial History, the Massachusetts Archeology Society and the Robbins Museum make sure the events that came before aren't fogotten. Tonya Largy will tell us about this wonderful collection and the Museum itself.
June 11
7 PM
There is Nothing Like a Dame - The Ladies of Bourne
Thelma Loring, Curator
Opening of the summer exhibit with comments about the ladies of Bourne. If behind every great man there is a woman ...then behind every town there are women!
BourneHistorical Society's
April Maritime Lecture Series
Wednesday, April2nd at 7 PM
Michael Tougias - Fatal Forecast
Fatal Forecast chronicles a dramatic fight for survival aboard two small fishing boats that were ambushed by a horrific surprise storm just southeast of Cape Cod.
On a cold November day, two fishing vessels, the Fair Wind and the Sea Fever, set out from Cape Cod to catch offshore lobsters at Georges Bank. Soon after the boats reached the fishing ground, they were hit with hurricane force winds and massive, sixty-foot waves that battered the boats for hours. The captains and crews struggled heroically to keep their vessels afloat in the unrelenting storm. One monstrous wave of 90 to 100-feet soon capsized the Fair Wind, trapping the crew inside. Meanwhile, on the Sea Fever, Captain Peter Brown, a resident of Bourne, did his best to ride out the storm, but a giant wave blew out one side of the pilothouse, sending a crew member into the churning ocean.
Most amazing is the story of Ernie Hazard, who managed to crawl inside a tiny inflatable life raft--only to be repeatedly thrown into the ocean--as he fought to endure over fifty hours adrift in the storm tossed seas. By turns tragic, thrilling and inspiring, Ernie’s story deserves a place among the greatest survival tales ever told. Ernie Hazard's experience, as related by Tougias, deserves a place as a classic of survival at sea." -- The Boston Globe.
Wednesday, April 9th at 7PM
Victor Mastone – Massachusetts' Submerged History
Every day we see Massachusetts' Maritime heritage on land, such as lighthouses and the homes of ship captain's home, and even floating examples such as the U.S.S. Constitution and the Schooner Ernestina. However, there is a wealth of heritage most of us never see lying under the ocean, lakes, and rivers of our state. These resources span the breadth of human occupation of Massachusetts. This lecture is an overview of our diverse heritage and the sate agency that protects it.
Victor Mastone serves as the Director and Chief Archaeologist of Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources. He has over 30 years experience interrestrial, underwater, prehistoric, and historic archaeology concentrating mainly on eastern North America. He joined the state Board in 1987 as its first staff archaeologist and has served as its Director since 1990. He serves on the Society for Historical Archaeology’s UNESCO Committee and was a member of the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology.
He is Vice President of the North American Society for Oceanic History. He has been a Guest Investigator with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a Research Associate with the Public Archaeology Facility at the State University of New York-Binghamton. Mr. Mastone has been a member of the U.S. Secretary of Interior's National Maritime Heritage Grants Advisory Committee and NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration’s Peer Review Panel. He served as Massachusetts Assistant Secretary of Environmental Affairs from 2000-2004. He received his B.A. in History and Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts in Boston and his M.A. in Anthropology and M.B.A. in Arts Administration from the State University of New York at Binghamton.
Wednesday, April 16th at 7PM
Michael Dyer – A Trip Round the World
in the Words and Pictures of the Sailors Themselves.
An illustrated presentation featuring ports of call, landfalls, vessels, charts and peoples encountered as illustrated by whalemen and other seafarers in their logbooks and journals from 1793 to 1870. Compiled and narrated by Michael P. Dyer, Librarian and Maritime Historian, New Bedford Whaling Museum with readings by Jan Keeler, Volunteer Cataloger
“Whaling was the most dangerous job on the sea that has ever existed," said Michael P. Dyer,. "There was no romance associated with it at all. It was brutal. Few men wanted to do it.'
Wednesday, April 23rd at 7 PM
Galon ’Skip’ Barlow – More Barlows by the Sea
Skip will regale us with adventure tales about some of his colorful and historic Barlow relatives. Skip grew up in a fishing family on Cape Cod. He is a coastal, inshore fisherman with years of experience dealing with the trials and tribulations that come with that style of life.
He has written several interesting books for young people, The Battle of Nantucket and The Adventures of Levi and Nathan at Bassett’s Island, they are based on fact and Barlow Family legend. He is always ready to entertain with a story or two at a moments notice. Skip is a trustee on the Bourne Historical Society’s board and the host of the cable show TRIVIA WHAT DO YA KNOW on Comcast Cable-Channel 13. The show airs live every other Thursday night for your entertainment and is repeated on the off-Thursdays at 7:00PM.
Wednesday, April 30th at 7 PM
Jim Coogan – Sail Away Ladies:
Stories of Cape Cod Women in the Age of Sail
Sail Away Ladies presents the tales of twelve Cape Cod women who braved the oceans to accompany their husbands at sea. The stories of these remarkable ladies, culled from their journals and letters, are part of the maritime history of this country.
Jim Coogan, former teacher and historian, has compiled a thoughtful and entertaining collection of stories about 12 women who spent time at sea in the early 19th and 20th centuries.
Please save the dates and join us for these lectures, Tougias, Barlow, and Coogan will have copies of their books available for sale. Refreshments will be served.
Suggested donation for tickets for this series is $5 a lecture or $20 for a series ticket.
Ongoing Events
Aptucxet Trading Post Museum
Complex and the Windmill Gift Shop
24 Aptucxet Road
Open for the season May 23 - October 12
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10 AM to 4 PM and
Sunday 2 to 5 P.M.
Admission: $4.00 individual, $3.50, seniors $2.00 children, $10 family.
Special Events
Summer Exhibit 2008
There is Nothing Like a Dame-The Ladies og Bourne
Open Mondays and Tuesdays 9 am – 2:30 pm, Wednesday Evenings 6:30-8:30 PM or by appointment.
Saturday, June 28th, 11 AM-3 PM
35th Annual Strawberry Festival and Craft Fair
Enjoy the cool breezes off the canal while you feast on hotdogs, hanbergers and homemade strawberry short cake. Visit our Windmill Gift Shop and the craftersin front of the Trading Post.
Free tours of the Museum 11 AM, 1 PM, and 3PM
Aptucxet Trading Post Museum Complex
Rain location:
Bourne United Methocdist Church, 37 Sandwich Road, Bourne Village
August 10, 5:30-8 PM
3rd Annual Summer Soiree at the Gardner Estate
Our special guest this year will be Andrew Carnegie. He rose from humble beginnings to become the "King of Steel" and the richest man in the world. He was called the "greediest little devil ever lived" yet he gave away billions of dollars building thousands of libraries. He warred with labor yet passionately advocated world peace. Carnegie was a contemporary of the Stewart and Gardner families and epitomized the era.
Come join in the singing of old time songs and play croquet on the lawn. There will be a silent auction with proceeds to benifit the Bourne Historiclal Society.
Reservations must be made by August 6th, send check with a self addressed envelope to Bourne Historical Society, Box 3095, Bourne, MA 02532 or by calling 508 759-8167
August 16 - Saturday, 7 PM
August 16 - Saturday, 7 PM
Walk Through History
Meet at Aptucxet Trading Post and a canal ranger will lead walkers along the canal to the Jonathan Bourne Historical Center to view theWomen of bourne's Past and then to the Briggs-McDermott House. Walkers return at sunset to the Trading Post where they will be met by a 17th century resident from Plimoth Plantation.
Admission: $5 individuals and $10 family.
Christmas in Old Bourne Village
December 5, 6, & 7 – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Friday, Dec 7th
5:00 and 6:15 PM: Bourne Public Library: Tanglewood Marionettes Puppet Show:
6:00 PM: Bourne Public Library Tree Lighting and Sing along with Bourne High School Band
6:00 to 8:00 PM: Jonathan Bourne Historical Center:- the Bourne Historical Society serves clam chowder come see the Exhibits: Women of Bourne's Past and additions to collection in 2008 Bourne Archives serves punch, cheese and crackers.
The Windmill Boutique Gift Shop will be Open
Briggs-McDermott House: Visit the Bourne Society for Historic Preservation for dessert and punch.
Alonzo Booth Forge: Demonstrations in a working black-smith shop
7:00 PM: Jonathan Bourne Historical Center Caroling with the Bourne United Methodist Church choir
All are invited to join in singing the beloved songs of the season.
Saturday, Dec. 8th
4:00 PM: Bourne United Methodist Church: Concert by Saints and Singers Refreshments will be served
Addresses of Locations, all with-in walking distance
Jonathan Bourne Historical Center, 30 Keene Street * Briggs-McDermott House, 22 Sandwich Road* Jonathan Bourne Public Library, 19 Sandwich Road * Bourne United Methodist Church, 37 Sandwich Road
Historical Society's Office and Exhibits along with the Archives are open Monday and Tuesday 9:30am -2:30pm and Wednesday 6:30- 8:30pm.
The Historical Commission meets Tuesdays 9:30am- 12:30pm.
Bourne Historical Society Office and Town Archives are open:
Hours: Monday and Tuesday 9:30 am - 2:30 pm, Wednsday 6:30 - 8:30 pm, and by Appointment other times.
Must call a week in advance for appointment.
Jonathan Bourne Historical Center
30 Keene Street
Bourne