Submitted by Mary Messere
Memorial Day Monday marks opening of the Old Town of Eaton Museum for this year; the day will highlight a special display in the yellow Museum Building next to the museum.
The display is courtesy of Doug and Diane Chilson who collect interesting items from Eaton’s past.
The Chilsons are founding members of the Friends of the Old Town of Eaton Museum and hosted a successful display for an event three years ago.
The main Eaton Museum Building will be open with its extensive Eaton history, and there will be books on Eaton’s history for sale by this writer – Backstreet Mary.
The group is kicking off the little museum’s 25th year.
The museum started in the Wood House on Brooklyn Street for the Bicentennial in 1995, moving to the ancient stone building on River Road in 1998.
The stone museum building, an early tannery building that became the shoemaker’s house, is one of the few early rubble buildings built just after the 1790s. The Sprague family kept it in the family for much of its life of service to the community.
The museum has a special display that honors Mr. Sprague, a shoemaker whose father no doubt was a shoemaker, as the museum has records dating to 1802 for William Sprague, who was also a shoemaker.
So come out to Historic Eaton and visit for the day, enjoy the parade and history display on Route 26 and enjoy the rural quiet of Eaton.
The Old Town of Eaton Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.