The Willard House and Clock Museum is a museum located in
North Grafton,
Massachusetts
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, United States.
Overview
The Willard House and Clock Museum is located at the former farm homestead of the Willard brothers (
Benjamin,
Simon
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
,
Ephraim, and
Aaron). The brothers made
clock
A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and t ...
s 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.
Like other contemporaneous
horologists, the Willard family originally divided its life seasonally, between
farming
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...
and the clock workshop. Eventually the business became profitable, at which point the house was further enlarged. While in Grafton, Simon, the most innovative and most famous of the Willard brothers, developed his first so called
banjo clock
The banjo clock, or banjo timepiece, is an American wall clock with a banjo-shaped case. It was invented by Simon Willard, originally of Grafton, Massachusetts, later of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and patented in 1802. The banjo clock normally lacks ...
, more properly called the "Willard Patent Timepiece", which was patented in 1802.
Museum founding and history
The museum was founded by Dr.
Roger W. Robinson and his wife Imogene, collectors of Willard clocks, after they were able to acquire the Willard homestead. For a period in the late 1990s the museum was administered by the
National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors
The National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors, Inc. (NAWCC) is a nonprofit association of people who share a passion for collecting watches and clocks and studying horology (the art and science of time and timekeeping). The NAWCC's global m ...
, but soon was turned into an independent foundation again, governed by a board made up of representatives of the Willard family, the founding couple, the local community and some horological experts.
The original homestead farmhouse have been added to in recent years and in addition to the original rooms there are now two 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
Roxbury () is a neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts.
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for neighborhood services coordination. The city states that Roxbury se ...
, now part of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.
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 museum members by appointment.
See also
*
References
External links
Willard House and Clock Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willard House And Clock Museum
Museums on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Horological museums in the United States
Biographical museums in Massachusetts
Historic house museums in Massachusetts
Museums in Worcester County, Massachusetts
Houses in Worcester County, Massachusetts
Grafton, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Worcester County, Massachusetts
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Worcester County, Massachusetts