Contact:
William Jenney
Regional Historic Site Administrator
802-672-3773
William.Jenney@vermont.gov
History Happens at Old Constitution House
WINDSOR, VT -- The Old Constitution House, the birthplace of Vermont, hosts a weekend of period reenactments on Saturday and Sunday, October 13 and 14, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
This is the last of the 2018 season’s “History Happens at OCH” programs. Featuring reenactors Carl and Carolyn Malikowski, October’s event includes 18th-century woodworking and powder horn carving, outdoor cooking techniques, and a discussion of early harvesting and food preservation.
In 1777, Vermont’s constitution was adopted at a tavern that came to be known as the Old Constitution House. Now a museum, OCH offers exhibits and guided tours that focus on the first constitution in America to prohibit slavery, establish universal manhood suffrage, and establish a system of public schools. A permanent exhibition, A Free and Independent State, examines Vermont’s formative years from the struggle for political independence to statehood in 1791.
This year’s temporary exhibit, Lafayette’s Grand Tour: Windsor Hosts an American Patriot, examines a little-known chapter of local history. The Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the American Revolution, made a triumphal tour of the United States in 1824-1825. A crowd of several thousand turned out to meet Lafayette when he stopped at Windsor. Our special display features objects from the state’s archives and from the Royalton Historical Society’s collection.
The Old Constitution House State Historic Site is operated by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, which is part of the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development. Located at 16 North Main Street in Windsor, the site is open Saturdays & Sundays through October 14, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. For further information, please call 802-672-3773 or visit our website: www.HistoricSites.Vermont.gov
About the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development
The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development’s (ACCD) mission is to help Vermonters improve their quality of life and build strong communities. ACCD accomplishes this mission by providing grants, technical assistance, and advocacy through three divisions: The Department of Economic Development, the Department of Tourism and Marketing, and the Department of Housing and Community Development. For more information on ACCD please visit: accd.vermont.gov.
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