New England may be unique among regions across the U.S. for the sheer number and variety of community-based historical societies. The Nashoba Valley town of Littleton is no exception. A short drive from Interstate 495 and sited on a small triangle of land bordered by three streets—King Street, Rogers Street, and Foster Street—in what is considered to be the town’s historic center, stands the home of the Littleton Historical Society: the Houghton Memorial Building.

Originally built in 1895 to house the town’s public library, this Colonial Revival- style building was also the first home of the historical society, which had been organized around the same time. A room above the main floor was made available to the LHS to store their holdings.

The situation changed for a period beginning in the 1980s, following the death of Marion Fitch. During her lifetime, Fitch and her business partner, Jane Poor, were the proprietors of Hartwell Farm in nearby Lincoln. Located within the historic Hartwell Homestead that dated back to the 1700s, this was a well-known “dining place” that attracted folks for several years. “We took a lot of the stuff from up there,” says LHS President Andrea Curran, “and brought it over to her house. And we set up a museum there.”

Just a few years later, the library was moved into another, larger building in town, and the town was left to decide what to do with a now empty building. Eventually the decision was made to rent it to the historical society. Says Andrea, “We sold [Ms. Fitch’s] house … and brought the stuff over here.”

At about the same time the LHS was moving back in, the Houghton Memorial Building was added to the National Register for Historical Places.

A library layout is an ideal space for a historical society museum. The large, spacious rooms make for great areas to exhibit artifacts. They have pieces that span indigenous peoples, early settlers and the Colonial period, business and personal items from the 19th and 20th centuries, farm tools, items from the area’s dairy industry, and some examples of the cultural and artistic sides of the town—the story of Littleton.  “We do actually have items up until the present day,” says Andrea Curran, “because at some point, this may be an important thing in the future.”

From the entrance, on the main floor, the visitor comes into what had been the library lobby. Even the book checkout desk is still there. Placed about, in glass cases and on counters, are a number of smaller items. An antique tall case clock stands in one corner.

To the right of the lobby is a meeting room with a fireplace at one end. Chairs and folding tables make up one large table space in the center. Surrounding that are displays of documents, furniture—including a Colonial writing chair—smaller antique clocks, and portraits and landscape paintings on the walls.

Behind the lobby, passing through an area that features collections of metal miniature soldiers and other figures in lighted, glass-fronted displays, the visitor enters the exhibition room. A large room that features tall, paned glass windows, this is LHS’s space for short-term curated exhibits. Most recently, through the end of March of this year, the latest exhibit was “Artistry in Iron”, featuring wood-burning stoves and kitchen ranges from the 1800s through the early 1900s, accessories, and ephemera. These are all the work of Littleton-based restorer David Erickson, whose workshop is located in the old rail depot building.

The bulk of LHS’s collection is displayed in three contiguous spaces in the basement. The largest room, which has a table for small meetings or workshops, is crammed with items, documents, and photographs spanning centuries. Notable among these are a display of the various milk bottles from local dairy farms; a sign proclaiming “Adams Beach—Lakeshore Park”; locally handmade bricks; and a bass drum carrying the logo for the Littleton Farmers’ Swing Band, a popular local band from the 1940s and 1950s.

In the space at the bottom of the stairs, in addition to farm and household implements and a 19th-century dress on a mannequin, is a most unusual item from the turn of the last century: a unique high-wheel bicycle. What makes this one so unusual? The tiny wheel is in front, rather than at the rear, and provides the steering. The large drive wheel is powered not by rotating pedals in the traditional sense; the rider pushes down on alternating pedals, engaging drive gears.

Beyond the items on display, in storage, and the papers and documents in their care, is one of the most important features of the Littleton Historical Society: their ongoing outreach to students in the town. This effort is led by Education Coordinator Michelle Barry, longtime LHS volunteer and a former high school teacher.

One facet of the program focuses primarily on students in Advanced Placement US History in high school. “Because they’re in an AP class, they’re a certain caliber of student,” says Michelle, “So when they come in here we know they’re willing to do the research. But what I think gives them a sense of awe and excitement is that they get to choose their subject.”

Having the choice of subject to pursue often brings out each student’s personal interest in the topic. One student, for instance, chose to focus on fashion at the turn of the last century. “We acquired some fashion from that time period,” says Michelle. “Just to see her face light up and get excited about these pieces of clothing and to watch her head spin as she’s trying to formulate this paper and figure out how things are going to fit together—it’s  that excitement that is going to stay with her not just through this year, but for the rest of her life.”

Another student participant in this program, already an artist herself, connected with an artist at the historical society. By the end of her project, she was contemplating focusing on museum studies in college.

A third student has discovered an aspect of Littleton history not much remembered today, one that had been important in her neighborhood in the late 1800s. Large barns, at one time as many as 19, were used to quarantine animals that had arrived in Boston by ship. The animals would be brought by train to be quarantined for a time before moving on to their final destinations, which included Benson’s Wild Animal Farm and other zoos and parks.

“I guess she’s going to approach her neighbors and say, ‘Hey, can I look in your barn?’”, says Michelle, “And interview them about it and take pictures and so forth. She’s really excited about it because it’s this weird thing. Hardly any places in the whole country had quarantine stations.”

LHS’s educational programs are not limited to high school-level AP history students. Because building an interest in history needs to be encouraged at the elementary school level to spark those interests in the first place, they have a program for third- graders.

Michelle Barry explains: “We go into the third grades twice a year because it’s part of the state-mandated curriculum to do local history … Every year, the big thing is to write with the quill pens. We talk about what it was like to go to school in Littleton in the late 1800s, and try to make that connection with the schools and teach them how to write cursive script.”

The students are thrilled when they learn they can keep the pens for themselves. The lesson, an hour-long experience, also explores other aspects of everyday writing at that time, e.g., how expensive even common writing paper was—something not to be wasted.

Middle school students also have a program. Fifth-graders are taken on a field trip to the town’s Old Burying Ground, an outing that becomes a multidisciplinary experience. Using primary sources, such as a map of the burying ground, they are exposed to math skills, vocabulary (by introducing the meanings of epitaphs and their relation to the deceased), and the people interred there and their relation to the town.

Michelle’s wish for this partnership with the school system is expansive: “It would be great if we could get into all the schools over time. That would be a great goal for me to accomplish.”

In the years since moving into the Houghton Memorial Building, the Littleton Historical Society has faced numerous challenges. During their tenure there the building, alone, has had its issues. LHS has addressed a leaking basement, now repaired, replaced the roof tiles, and they are currently working on replacing the windows beginning with the front windows on the second level. A fundraising campaign is already underway.

The larger issue for this historical society, as with all community-based historical societies, is to ensure its future as an integral part of the community.

Michelle Barry expressed it this way: “The big challenge we face is how to get the community involved—to care about this place and what’s in here … And everybody’s facing that challenge in different ways.”

For more information on the Littleton Historical Society, upcoming events and opportunities, check out the website: littletonhistoricalsociety.org. They are currently looking for donations to help defray the costs of the ongoing window replacement project. If you are interested in this project, go to their website at … https://www.littletonhistoricalsociety.org/about-us/