Visiting Information

Museum Hours

The Framingham Timeline exhibition is open by appointment at the old Academy on 16 Vernon St. and available free of charge to members, with a suggested donation of $5.00 for non-members.

The museum's permanent exhibition, The Framingham Timeline is housed on all three floors of the Old Academy building. This exhibit spans the 17th through 20th centuries with a diverse array of museum quality items including: Native American artifacts; beautifully woven straw bonnets crafted by local girls in the 1700s as part of Framingham's first industry; a revolutionary war cannon; to a NASA space suit worn by Framingham's Christa McAuliffe.

Old Academy Offices and Research Library — The Curator, Membership Coordinator, and Museum Assistant offices are also located in the Old Academy along with the Research Library.
Research Library hours are on Wednesdays from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. or by appointment. To make an appointment call 508-872-3780 or email research@framinghamhistory.org.

The Edgell Memorial Library is open for programs and events at various times throughout the year. See the calendar or events pages for more details. If you would like to visit the library, please call 508-872-0484 or email michelle@framinghamhistory.org. The offices of the Executive Director and Operations Manager are also located here.

The Old Village Hall can be visited by appointment only or by contacting the Rental Coordinator at info@historicvillagehall.org

Directions

From the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) Take Exit 12, Route 9, towards Framingham. Take the ramp toward Edgell Road/Main Street/Framingham. Stay straight until you can get in the middle lane of the ramp. Turn left and go through the next set of traffic lights. Then:
For Edgell Memorial Library:
Take the next left after the lights onto Oak St. First building on the left.

For Old Academy Offices and Research Library:
Take the next left after the lights onto Oak St. AT the end of Oak turn right onto Vernon St.
Museum is approximately 1 / 4 mile on the left, across from the town green at 16 Vernon Street.

For Old Village Hall:
After passing straight through the last set of lights, left (first left after Oak St.) into Village Hall parking lot

Click on the Google logo above to get door-to-door directions.

Accessibility & Parking

The Village Hall is not handicap accessible and we are working toward full accessibility in the future. The Old Academy is not handicap accessible. The Edgell Memorial Library has ramp access at the Library Street entrance with handicap parking available. Parking for the Old Academy may be accessed off of Grove Street behind the Jonathan Maynard Building.

Interact with Us

Framingham History Events

Parking: Because of Center common construction, please park in the Village Hall lot (2 Oak St.) or behind the Jonathan Maynard Building (14 Vernon St.)

Framingham Remembers...The Civil War
Location: Edgell Memorial Building/ 3 Oak Street
Hours: Open Wednesdays-Saturdays 1:00pm-4:00pm
Admission: Free for FHC Members, $5 for Non-Members

"Be Swift My Soul" A Salon with Julia Ward Howe
Date – Sunday, February 12, 2012
Time – 1:30 – 3:00
Location – Heineman Ecumenical Center, Framingham State College

Join Libby Frank as she portrays Julia Ward Howe - a woman who produced perhaps the most stirring and recognizable lines of music in U.S. history. Julia was transformed from a wealthy New York belle to a Boston writer and abolitionist in the decades leading up to the Civil War. As the wife of reformer Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, Director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind - she entertained and visited with poets, politicians, reformers, writers and exceptional women.

Libby will present Julia as the host of a salon that might have included H.W. Longfellow, Edgar Alan Poe, Florence Nightingale, Margaret Fuller, Charles Sumner and Charles Dickens among others. These acquaintances along with her travels abroad, her love of language and music all gave birth to the compelling verses of the Battle Hymn of the Republic which were first sung in Framingham at the Plymouth Church nearly 150 years ago – February 22, 1862. Music of the era will be performed. Refreshments served following the performance at the Alumni House, 42 Adams Rd., Framingham

Memory and Meaning Series Making History/Making Place: New England's Search for a Useable Past
Location: Edgell Memorial Library/ 3 Oak Street
Date: Sunday, January 22, 2012
Time: 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Admission: $5 FHC Members and students /$10 for Non-Members

Presented by: Bill Hosley, President Terra Firma Associates - cultural resource consultant, planner, teacher, writer and photographer 
This program connects us with artists and antiquarians who used collections, monuments, story-telling and the built environment to preserve, protect, and promote the New England places they loved.
Click here to for more information and to puchase tickets online
Click here for more information and to puchase tickets online.

Civil War Living History Encampment
Location: Starts at the Old Academy Building, 16 Vernon St.
Date: May 4-6, 2012
Location:Framingham’s Centre Common

Union and Confederate soldiers will set up camp, perform artillery demonstrations, drills and medical scenarios. There will be a Saturday Night contra dance at the Village Hall also located on the Common, as well as activities related to the Civil War exhibition Framingham Remembers…The Civil War at the Edgell Memorial Library. This Library, which is the town’s civil war memorial, will be rededicated during the weekend activities and three local authors will be signing recently published books on Framingham’s Civil War history.

More Events »

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Framingham History Blog

• Read the latest about Framingham History Center news and events at our new blog.

Blog Entries »

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Help Honor Our Local Heritage

We are a non-profit organization that depends largely on memberships and donations to perform our mission of preserving and sharing Framingham's unique history and culture. Please join us or

Winner of $100,000 Partners in Preservation grant for Window restoration at Edgell Memorial Library

"Congratulations! What a testament to your project and your organization!"

Marilyn Martino, Executive Director, Sudbury Foundation