Programs and Events 2024

Guy Fawkes Night Celebration Friday November 1st 6:30 - 8:00 pm

The Intolerable Acts were passed in response to the Boston Tea Party.  The covenant, the agreement to refrain from buying and using certain British merchandise had been read, amended, and accepted.  The town would now need to turn their attention to the provisioning of arms and ammunition.  It had been 4 years since the Boston Massacre and each year was pushing them closer to the inevitable. Learn what the citizens of Ashburnham were doing to prepare and then join us for the Guy Fawkes Night Celebration with mulled cider, snacks, period music and Redcoat effigies for the fire!

Scandinavian Winter Tea & Book Club Saturday December 28th 11 am – 1 pm at the Stevens Library RSVP please

Celebrate winter with the smell of cardamom and cinnamon, and a warm cup of cheer.

Join us for a delicious array of traditional Scandinavian baked goods, coffee, tea and good company discussing The End of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylvainen

Programs and Events 2023

•  May 6th: Saturday at 9:00 a.m. The A.H.S. and the Friends of the Wapack collaborate for a historical tour of the Wapack Trail from RT. 119 to the top of Nutting Hill. Discussion of the first settlers, the Turnpike (RT. 119), and the Children of the Woods Tavern. Parking at the intersection of RT. 119 and Old Pierce Road.

•  May 21st: The History of Winnekeag Lake Part II, Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Join us for a tour and discussion of the second mill dam at the current outlet of the lake including the bursting of the dam, the flood and the rebuilding of the dam, circa 1830 to 1870. Parking at the Camp Split Rock Center on Stowell Road, top of the hill on the right.

• May 28th: The History of Lake Winnekeag Part I (rescheduled from April), Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Join us for a tour and discussion of the early names of the lake, the first mill dam/bridge at the original outlet of the lake including the mill and road system from 1768. Parking at the old Winnekeag Club lot near the RT. 101 and Stowell Road intersection.

•  June 10th: Meet the Centenarians. New Dawn Art Center, Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Ashburnham has three Centenarians, who come to have tea and a chat with those who have lived for 100-plus years. Please check our website for possible changes to this venue.

•  June 24th: Meet Brad Blodget, Saturday at 2:00 p.m. New Dawn Art Center. Author of Marium Foster’s Boston and Maine Railroad and Iron Roads of the Monadnock Region. Both books cover the railroads that either came through our town or originated here. Tea, chat, and book signing with Brad. Please check our website for possible changes to this venue.

•  July 13th: Maps of Ashburnham 1855 to 1940, Thursday, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Preservation Room at the Stevens Memorial Library. Displays and discussion of the changes to our town.

•  August 10th: Deed research on the internet, Thursday, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Preservation Room at the Stevens Memorial Library. Learn how to find out when your house was built.

•  August 24th: Insights into our famed Granville Rideout, Thursday, 6 to 8:00 p.m. at our 79 Main Street Museum. George Cornwall leads us into the only native of town who inherited a small real estate empire, became a master of weapons, both LARGE and small, developer of highways and dams AND two lakes in Ashburnham!

•  August 27th: Fall Flower Sale!!! Sunday, at 79 Main Street 9:00 am till sold out! Don’t forget your mum so don’t forget your mums! Due to demand-supply, this EVENT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

•  September 30th: Celebrate Ashburnham Day, Saturday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Come to the Ashburnham Historical Society Meeting House Museum and see a working 19th-century blacksmith.

•  October 4th: The Annual Meeting of the Ashburnham Historical Society, 79 Main Street, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Please join us for our short meeting followed by a presentation, wine, and cheese. We will also be unveiling our cannon with its new wheels.