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Upcoming Events

April 13 - 23
Christina Collins-Smith: Out of Chaos
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May 10 - 11
Mason-Dixon Chapter American Rhododendron Show and Sale
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May 10 - 11
Mother's Day Studio Show and Sale
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May 17
International Fair Trade Festival
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Museums

Carroll County Farm Museum
www.carrollcountyfarmmuseum.org
500 South Center Street,
Westminster, MD 21157
410-386-3880 | 800-654-4645

Step back into Nineteenth Century culture. Take a stroll back over a hundred years. The Carroll County Farm Museum welcomes you into an era where self-sufficiency was the order of the day. The Nineteenth Century farm family worked their land to its fullest, produced their own food, churned butter, made soap, and spun wool into yarn. Our predecessors were also talented artisans, creative and skilled, and have left many examples of their ingenuity for us to enjoy.

The Farm Museum offers a virtual treasure trove of period antiques, many of which are donated by Carroll County families. The Carroll County Farm Museum presents rural life as it was in the 19th Century. In addition to the main house, which was built in 1852, the 140-acre museum includes barns, a smokehouse, springhouse, blacksmith shop, craftsmen's workshops and exhibit areas that contain an abundance of early farm memorabilia. Farm animals add to the authenticity of the setting. Recreational facilities include picnic tables, pavilions, and horseshoe pits.


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Historical Society of Carroll County
hscc.carr.org
210 East Main Street
Westminster, MD 21157
410-848-6494
Handicap Accessible

Complete your day with a visit to the Historical Society of Carroll County.  The 1807 Sherman-Fisher-Shellman house is furnished to interpret the lives of the first owner, Jacob Sherman, and his family who lived in the house from 1807-1842.  Costumed interpreters will be on hand to guide your group through the house.  The adjacent Kimmey House is home to the Shriver-Weybright Gallery where exhibitions examine the history of Carroll County and its residents.  Stop in the Museum Shop and Bookstore for a wide variety of books on Carroll County history. 


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Strawbridge Shrine
2650 Strawbrige Lane
New Windsor, MD 21776
410-635-2600

In the Wakefield Valley/New Windsor area of Carroll County, Robert Strawbridge formed the first Methodist class in America about 1763. Nearby, he built the first log meeting house. Although without official sanction, American Methodists first received Baptism and Holy Communion by his hand. The Strawbridge House was designated a National Methodist Shrine by the General Conference of 1940, and was purchased by the Strawbridge Shrine Association in 1973.

Today the Strawbridge House and farm, along with John Evans Meeting House Replica, are available for tours. Please call ahead and make an appointment.


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Sykesville Colored Schoolhouse
www.sykesville.net/school.html
518 Schoolhouse Road
Sykesville, MD 21784
410-795-8959

The Sykesville Colored Schoolhouse Museum is being restored to its 1916 appearance. Built between July and December 1903, at a cost of $530.50, the building has lived many lives. Between January 1904 and May 1938 it was a one-room schoolhouse, managed by local community trustees, for children of the surrounding black community from both sides of the Patapsco River during the days of segregation. Between July 1939 and late 1981 the building served as a residence with its main floor divided into four rooms. Since 1982, the building was repeatedly slated for demolition, but was saved each time by the efforts of local residents.

By the mid-1990's, with support from the Town of Sykesville, the project was in line to receive state restoration seed grants. However, their implementation was delayed while deeds and other issues were resolved. Millennium celebrations provided a major boost in the effort to save the Schoolhouse. The White Millennium Council, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, listed the Schoolhouse as a Save America's Treasures Project, and the Maryland Commission for Celebration 2000 selected it as a statewide Treasure of the Month. The same year the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage selected the Sykesville Schoolhouse as the county and statewide beneficiary project for the year.

This historic schoolhouse has been restored and furnished to its 1904 appearance, but today teaches area children of all ethnicities and ages. A variety of field trips and tours are available for students and Scouts ages kindergarten through grade 12. A nominal fee will be charged for each student. In addition, community organizations may rent the structure upon request.

To schedule an appointment, contact Ms. Greenwald at 410-489-6540.


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Sykesville Gate House Museum
www.sykesville.net/gatehouse.html
7283 Cooper Drive
Sykesville, MD 21784
410-549-5150

Opening at its present location September 7, 1997, the Sykesville Gate House Museum serves as a destination for hundreds of visitors. The Museum strives to interpret the abundant history of the Town of Sykesville and its surrounding communities through its collections, exhibits and special events.

Entering the front door, visitors will immediately immerse themselves in the rich history of this community through an innovative timeline. A wide variety of displays and artifacts located throughout the building provide more detailed aspects of the Town of Sykesville's history.

Historic home and architectural enthusiasts may opt to take the guided tour of the building's other purpose - home to Springfield Hospital Center employees from 1904 until the late 1980s. You will be able to see how the Gate House gained its name as well as several of its unique features.

Children will enjoy learning about the Shipley family, as well as the working antique telephone and attic filled with toys.

The collection at the Museum began with Sykesville resident Thelma C. Wimmer's photographs, both amateur and professional, capturing life in and around Sykesville over the past 140 years. Additionally, clothing, business ephemera, postcards, Native American artifacts, furniture and personal effects help to tell the story of an ever-changing community. Over the last 200 years, Sykesville has functioned as a small mill village and farming community, weathered a Civil War and two World Wars, charted new territory as a growing rail town, seen Victorian splendor as a summer-respite and acted as a bustling 20th century Main Street.

Open Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the first Sunday of the month, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on major holidays.


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Union Mills Homestead and Grist Mill
www.unionmills.org
3311 Littlestown Pike
Westminster, MD 21157
410-848-2288

The Union Mills Homestead in Carroll County is one of Maryland’s truly unique historic landmarks.

The Homestead began in 1797 when David and Andrew Shriver purchased a large tract of land along the Big Pipe Creek. The site was perfect for the enterprises that the Shriver brothers hoped to start. The Big Pipe Creek provided an excellent source of water for a mill, the fertile valley was good farmland and the surrounding rolling hills contained heavy stands of black oak which could furnish tanbark for a tannery.

Soon the brothers entered into a contract with Frederick County milwright, John Mong, to construct a set of mills, a grist mill and a saw mill.  Jacob Keefer and John Eckert were contract¬ed “to mold and burn a kiln of brick for the grist mill and to be paid one french crown for every thousand brick.”  Clay from the banks of the Big Pipe Creek was used for molding the bricks.  While the Grist Mill and Saw Mill were under construction, David and Andrew Shriver also started the main part of the house.  Henry Kohlstock of York County built a small double house with a connecting center hall and front porch for the labor costs of $86.  To these early endeavors, the brothers added a tannery, cooper shop and a blacksmith's shop.  Now David and Andrew truly had the beginning of an early industrial park.  The growing enterprises soon took the name “Union Mills” because of the partnership of the two brothers and their various businesses.  This is the same name that the small settlement that grew around the Homestead took.
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Handicap Accessible Indicates handicapped accessible location