Welcome. Housed in the 1823 Abigail Hooper Trask House, the Museum invites you to experience Manchester-by-the-Sea’s fascinating past through restored period rooms, paintings and sculptures by master artists, collections from the town's furniture era and maritime history, educational programs, speakers, and exhibits.
Hours:
Wednesday through Friday, 10 AM to 3 PM; Saturday, 11 AM to 4 PM.
Special Event
Summer Soirée at Sharksmouth Estate
The annual summer soirée at Sharksmouth Estate returns this year, and we invite you to join the Museum for a splendorous evening with a talk by Martha Oaks, Henrietta Gates and Heaton Robertson Chief Curator at the Cape Ann Museum, on local and internationally-known artist Charles Hopkinson. This is an important fundraiser, and all proceeds benefit the Museum. Featured speaker to be announced.
Location: Sharksmouth Estate, 305 Summer St., MBTS
Date: Thursday, June 19
Time: 6 – 8 PM
Doors open at 6 PM for socializing and refreshments
Be an Angel — $200
Members — $75
Non-Members — $100
Upcoming Exhibit Opening
Manchester in 1775 — Manchester, The Revolution, and The War at Sea
For the upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Manchester-by-the-Sea Museum is preparing to tell the story of "Manchester, The Revolution, and The War at Sea," and the opening day on Saturday, May 31, will specially feature living history with the Ladies Association of Revolutionary America interpreting Manchester in 1775.
The exhibit intends to create a better understanding of the town's heritage, specifically the story of Manchester men during the Revolutionary War, as it was fought at sea, with additional information about the war at land and home. After opening May 31, it will run through September, and it will be reprised next year for the national semiquincentennial in 2026.
The Essex National Heritage Commission is the primary grant sponsor of this project.
Location: Manchester-by-the-Sea Museum, 10 Union St., MBTS
Date: Saturday, May 31
Time: 11 AM to 4 PM
Admission cost for the opening and the exhibit is the same as regular self-guided tours of the Museum; guided tours of the Museum are also available by request at the door at an additional cost (+$10). Youth 16 and under are free. Registering in advance in appreciated, and walk-ins are welcome.
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New! Book Launch
The Rowans, a magical-realist historical novel
by Beverly Cooper Pierce
In Massachusetts, in the years between witchcraft delusion and Revolution, a curious, intuitive Tamsin Bennett is apprenticed to her Grandmother Cat, herbalist daughter of a healer-mystic jailed for witchery in 1692 Salem. One morning in 1750, Tamsin is stricken with ghastly visions of her Papa. That day inexplicably he is found dead under the wheel of the tide mill. In peril, Tamsin leaves the farm with her mother, brother, and young sister to a place that may be safer – or not. Now keeping a tavern in a harbor town, Tamsin hides in plain sight to carry on the work of her Grandmother Cat’s Rowan lineage. She mixes extracts for the tavern’s ale, alters food with herbs, protects her family from threat, and chooses her lovers with particular care.
The Rowans is a magical-realist historical novel, inspired by a Gloucester woman who started her own business in 1752, of necessity.
Bev and friends will read from the scene of a dance at the fictional tavern called The Rowans. Historic fiddler Larry Young will perform eighteenth-century dance music, and architectural historian Vijay Joyce will portray several characters. Vijay is Guide at the 1680 William Haskell House, Gloucester, where the novel begins, and Executive Director of the Pickering House in Salem. Hannah Harlow, of the Book Shop of Beverly Farms, will have copies of The Rowans for purchase at the event.
Location: Manchester-by-the-Sea Museum
Date: Saturday, June 14
Reading at 4:30 PM; Music and Books: 4:30-6:00 PM
Free Admission
Welcome aboard, Kady!
This January, we welcomed Kady McGann to our staff as museum assistant. A little about her: She is passionate about all things history! Childhood museum visits with her parents turned into a deep interest in the past, leading her to study history at Umass Amherst. After graduating, Kady spent time working at the Newbury Town Library, in Byfield, MA, where she reorganized their local history collection (when she wasn't getting book recommendations from patrons.) She is currently on track to graduate from Salem State University with a Master's in history this spring. Kady is a lifelong resident of Georgetown, MA, with fond memories of spending her childhood summers along Cape Ann's coast. She is excited to serve the Manchester-by-the-Sea community and to help the MBTS Museum continue its work of preserving local history.
Recalling a Merry Christmas Season
As we look back on 2024, the Museum recalls a successful Christmas season with the return of its traditional holiday events and festive decorations (thanks to Constance Leahy and the Manchester Garden Club) at the Abigail Hooper Trask House.
On Friday, December 6, we welcomed up to 181 people with our holiday open house during the Christmas by the Sea Holiday Stroll. On the following Thursday, December 12, our Holiday Tea (with tea hostess Sue Parker) presented a lovely service of afternoon tea, sandwiches & pastries, piano music (by Kathleen Adams, music director at Annisquam Village Church), and carol singing. Later that day, we welcomed at least 95 members and supporters to our evening Holiday Party with good food, good company, and the musical prowess of the Bob Landoni trio.
'Summers by the Sea' Exhibit Extended
If you haven't seen "Summers by the Sea," you still have time. The popular exhibit, examining Manchester-by-the-Sea's transformation from a furniture-making mill town to an international summer-resort destination, is extended through Fall.
Image: Masconomo House hotel
Celebrating a Year of Success
The Museum celebrated a year of success with its annual meeting on Thursday, September 26, starting at 5:45 PM with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to commemorate the restoration of the Museum’s front-entrance portico. The portico, which was part of the house during Abigail Hooper Trask's ownership, was removed in the 1930s and restored this year through the generous contributions of Capital Campaign donors and Community Preservation Committee funds.
Following a reception accross the street at Chapel Hall, the Museum held its business meeting, welcomed new officers and thanked departing Museum trustees for their hard work and dedication over the past year.
Last, but not least, Matthew Swindell (Associate Director) closed the evening with his well-received lecture, "Manchester vs. the Trolley," delving into the issues and battle lines of a fascinating period, "one of the most trying periods of the town's history," during the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it was electrified by the controversial proposed trolley.
The Fire Engines Inside Seaside No. 1
Thanks to all who stopped by our Open House at Seaside No. 1 during Festival by the Sea.
More than 200 visitors came to learn about the town’s two antique fire engines — the Torrent, a hand pumper built in 1832, and Seaside No. 2, a horse-drawn steam pumper acquired in 1902. Check back here for future open house dates.
Winslow Homer's Answer to Controversy
Thanks to a gift from Christine Virden of MBTS, the Museum has added to its permanent Collection a wood engraving of Winslow Homer’s iconic “Eagle Head, Manchester, Massachusetts (High Tide),” depicting three young women emerging from a swim in the ocean at Singing Beach. It was published in the August 6, 1870 edition of Boston's periodical Every Saturday.
A few months earlier, at a New York show, Homer first exhibited his oil painting* of the same name and subject matter. The painting was panned by critics. They were disturbed that, as one wrote, the figures were “exceedingly red-legged and ungainly...” So, Homer edited the image for Every Saturday. In this version (shown at left), the young women's bare legs were covered with leggings, and the dog was replaced with a swim cap.
Homer (1836–1910) began his career as an illustrator, creating images of current events for newspapers and other periodicals in Boston and New York. Homer sometimes adapted his illustrations into watercolors and oil paintings. He also reused the imagery of his paintings — such as “Eagle Head” — in his engravings.
The more than 150-year-old engraving of Winslow Homer's “Eagle Head” is part of our summer exhibit -- “Summers by the Sea: Masconomo House Hotel & the Resort Era.”
* Winslow Homer's oil painting is in The Met's Collection.