Barre historical society
Overview: The Barre Historical Society’s collections focus primarily on of the town of Barre, located in western Worcester County, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Material from the nineteenth century addresses topics including agriculture, cottage industries (particularly palm-leaf hats and cheese-making), transportation, and tourism, while twentieth-century topics include the foundry and textile mill industries. The archives also possess a photography collection relating to Barre.
Highlights at the Barre Historical Society include the 1836 Elias Carter house, a twelve-room home used as headquarters and storage for the historical society’s collections. The institution also possesses material artifacts including a collection of nineteenth-century costumes and textiles, an 1859 Concord stagecoach under conservation, a 1870 Yankee hay rake, a 1893 Barre hearse, and a 1840 printing press from the Barre Gazette, Worcester County’s oldest newspaper.
American Revolution Materials: Barre’s collections focus primarily on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Information related to the American Revolution consists of records of veterans of the American Revolution who were buried in Barre’s fourteen cemeteries.
Key Words: Barre, cemeteries, soldiers/militia
Collection Policies: The Barre Historical Society is currently expanding its collections via donations. About half of the collections have been processed, and institution does not create finding aids. The Barre Historical Society has hosted exhibits in the past and participated in regional exhibits—there are procedures in place for loaning documents to other institutions.