Willard House and Clock Museum - Grafton, MA
Posted by: 
nomadwillie
N 42° 14.338 W 071° 40.391
19T E 279435 N 4679769
Willard House is located in Grafton, MA and was placed on the register in 1982
Waymark Code: WM5837
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 11/26/2008
Views: 8
The Willard House and Clock Museum, located in North Grafton, Massachusetts, USA, is the former farm homestead of the Willard brothers (Benjamin, Simon, Ephraim, and Aaron), who made clocks there in the late 18th century, before they moved the business to Roxbury, where they became pillars of the emerging American clockmaking industry. The house was built about 1718. It stands in a rural setting, in the middle of a field that was part of the Willard farm back in the 18th century.
The original homestead farmhouse have been added to in recent years and in addition to the original rooms there are now to large galleries. The museum has over 80 Willard clocks, representing the craftsmanship of all the members of the family in the horological trade. While there are several clocks signed Grafton, the exhibits include also clocks made later after the Willard clock enterprise had moved on to Roxbury, Massachusetts, now part of Boston.
Besides hosting the world's most comprehensive collection of Willard timepieces there are many Willard family memorabilia on display. The original house is furnished with period furniture, and in the reconstructed workshop building there is a small collection of historic horological tools in a display showing what Simon Willard's original workshop may have looked like. The majority of clocks are shown in running condition.
There is a small gift shop, and the museum has a small Willard-centric library open to horological scholars by appointment.
County / Borough / Parish: Worcester
Year listed: 1982
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Person, Architecture/Engineering
Periods of significance: 1700-1749, 1750-1799, 1800-1824, 1825-1849
Historic function: Domestic
Current function: Domestic, Recreation And Culture
Privately owned?: yes
Season start / Season finish: From: 01/01/2008 To: 12/31/2008
Hours of operation: From: 9:00 AM To: 5:00 PM
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Street address: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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