Heritage Centre of Wakefield at the Lovell Union Grange

Step into the foyer and you're immediately surrounded by history. On display are the Grange's original charter, awards, pins, a ballot box, gavel, and more — tangible reminders of the organization's importance to Wakefield's agricultural and social fabric. Among the highlights is a 1948 National Grange Commendation awarded for the wooden lettered directional signs the Grange placed at street corners throughout town. A few of those original signs can still be spotted in more remote areas of Wakefield. The Grange Hall itself is located upstairs; docent-guided access is available upon request.

One of the Centre's most popular collections is the Stage Stop, a fascinating assemblage of stage and Concord Coach artifacts donated by Elizabeth B. MacRury. "Beth" spent many years researching and collecting stagecoach material for her book, Concord Coach: Four Wheels and Twenty-Four Legs, copies of which are available for purchase at the Centre.

The collection includes a C.N. Russell bronze — one of only six known to exist — as well as Concord Coach replicas commissioned by Beth MacRury herself. Among the other works of note: Dustin Payne's bronze Smoke in the Distance, T. Tasnadi's Changing Horses, John Austin Hanna's The Coach Goes By, and a tin horn once used by a stage driver to signal his approach to Wakefield Corner.

Water shaped Wakefield's early economy, and the Centre's mill history display tells that story. Visitors can explore ephemera related to the Luther Wiggin mill at the Salmon Falls River in South Wakefield, the mills in Union, and the Chick mill in East Wakefield. A pen-and-ink drawing by local artist Judy Brenner depicts the Newichawannock Canal and its keystone bridge — a site listed on the National Register of Historic Places, located at the headwaters of the Salmon Falls River as it exits Great East Lake. A painting by Beverly Grant captures the Drew Mill, one of several that once operated in the village of Union.