The Mill Museum welcomes educational field trips from schools, home school groups, universities, scout groups, summer camps, and similar organizations.
Tours are given by trained Museum educators. The content and duration of your field trip can be shaped to meet your needs. The average field trip usually lasts about two hours. Groups of up to 60 can be accommodated for tours. Bag lunches may be eaten in Dugan Hall.
Admission Prices
The cost is $7.00 per student without a craft activity, and $10.00 per student if a craft activity is included. We also charge $10.00 per docent. There is no fee for teachers in any case. Field trips are free for Town of Windham public schools.
Plan Your Visit
For information on our accessible entrances please see Accessibility.
Please review the following key questions if you are planning a school field trip.
a. How many students will be attending? Note that for groups of 20 or
fewer, the students can remain in one group and tour the museum
together. 21-40 students can tour as two groups that rotate through the
exhibits, and 41-60 students can tour as three groups. We are limited to 60 students per visit because of occupancy limits. (If you have more students, we can accommodate this over multiple sessions, including a morning and afternoon session on the same day.)
If you anticipate multiple groups, we ask that you divide the students
into groups in advance of your arrival.
We usually arrange to have three exhibit areas where groups of students can spend 15 to 20 minutes in rotation.
b. Will the group need to eat lunch at the museum? We understand that school field trips often span the lunch period. In this case we can accommodate up to 60 students in Dugan Hall.
c. How many chaperones/teachers will be attending?
d. Do you want to include a craft activity? Our most popular craft activity allows students to weave using yarn on cardboard looms. The students gain a first-hand understanding of the weaving process, and they get to make something that they can take home and continue to work on. We do this with the whole group assembled in Dugan Hall, usually after the tours.
e. Possible dates / day of the week? The museum’s normal business hours
are Friday through Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM. We recommend that school
groups tour the museum outside of those times. We can also accommodate large groups during the extended periods when we are closed to the general public.
f. What will you see on the tours? Generally we have three exhibit areas open during our school field trips: the industrial exhibit space in Dugan Mill, the main exhibit space on the ground floor of the main building, and “Thread Mill Square” on the second floor of the main building.
In the industrial space we look at the process of cotton thread production and how it can be used to weave cloth or to sew with. We look at industrial machines used in the mill and learn what they did. We also see test equipment and the tools used for printing thread spools and labels. Students emerge with an understanding of the process, as well as an understanding of what it was like to work in the mills.
We usually showcase the pre-industrial spinning and weaving activities in our main exhibit space. Students have an opportunity see these activities or even participate in them.
Thread Mill Square contains examples of the mill owner’s house and a mill worker’s house. Students are asked to explore each of them after which they can contrast and compare what they’ve seen as a group. This exhibit space provides an opportunity to see the cultural and social aspects of life in a mill town.
f. Do you have special subject you’d like us to cover? We can adapt the narrative to include subjects that your students may have been recently studying.
Bus Parking
It’s easiest and best to park buses on Union Street instead of the much-busier Main Street. Buses entering Union Street from Jackson Street can park directly in front of the upstairs of Dugan Hall where students assemble before and after their tours. Students don’t have to cross the street when arriving this way.
See Directions and Parking for more information.
Car Parking
For cars, either Union Street or the Museum’s main parking lot on Main Street are the best choice. Vans can usually park in either location outside of normal business hours.
Other Groups
In addition to school field trips, the Mill Museum welcomes senior centers, church groups, clubs, and similar organizations. Most of these visits can be accommodated during our normal business hours of 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Friday through Sunday. See our Group Tours page for more information.