Eastham Historical Society Schoolhouse

Eastham Historical Society Schoolhouse

Website: http://easthamhistoricalsociety.org/?page_id=68

 Nauset Road & Schoolhouse Road, Eastham, MA 02642

The Schoolhouse Museum is located on Nauset Road across from the National Seashore Visitor Center. It is housed in a one-room schoolhouse built in 1869. The original and remaining one of the three schoolhouses consolidated on that site in 1906, it served the town until 1936 when its last pupils moved to a newer building.  The old building stood abandoned until 1963 when the newly-formed Eastham Historical Society looked about for a place to house the town’s historical treasures. The school building, then well on its way to decrepitude, was purchased, restored, and became a museum.

A large pair of whale jawbones formerly framed the gateway to the museum, but deterioration forced their removal a few years ago. With considerable difficulty, a replacement pair is being sought. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

In 2008 a new museum addition was opened. The museum displays objects from the various facets of the town’s history including farming, shipwrecks, the Life Saving Service, Native American artifacts, the school and daily life in town. The schoolroom, now a children’s “hands on” museum complete with its original schoolmaster’s desk, is furnished to replicate how it looked in earlier days. Children of all ages are encouraged to sit at the desks, look at the books and “play school.”

Location Info

Eastham Historical Society Schoolhouse

Nauset Road & Schoolhouse Road

Eastham, MA 02642