[Thanksgiving] is a festival which will never become obsolete, for it cherishes the best affections of the heart—the social and domestic ties. It calls together the dispersed members of the family circle, and brings plenty, joy and gladness.”
–Sarah Josepha Hale in an 1837 edition of Godey’s Lady’s Book

Join us on November 15, 2025, as the Village celebrates Thanksgiving! Get into the Thanksgiving spirit as you learn about how early 19th-century New Englanders celebrated the holiday,  smell the aroma of food cooking in several historical houses, and see staged Thanksgiving dinners in the Fitch House at 12:00 p.m. and the Freeman Farmhouse at 1:00 p.m. There will also be a recreated turkey shoot using replicas of 19th-century firearms and inanimate targets.

Members can bring a friend (or two!) for free as part of Member November.

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Did you know?

• In early New England, Thanksgiving was the biggest holiday of the year.
• Turkeys in the early 19th century were much smaller than today’s “butterballs,” and turkey wasn’t always on the Thanksgiving menu, because they were a lot of work to prepare for not much meat.
• Pies were baked weeks ahead of time and stored in unheated attics and bedrooms where they would freeze and keep for months. Pies not consumed at Thanksgiving would sometimes last until April.
• While beginning to fall out of favor by the 1830s, competitive turkey shoots were still fairly common New England events in the fall and early winter. Participants would pay cash to shoot at nearly impossible ranges to try to win their own bird.