Falmouth Museums on the Green

Falmouth Museums on the Green Review

The Falmouth Museums on the Green represent life in colonial Cape Cod. The 1790 Julia Wood House retains wonderful architectural details—a widow's walk, wide-board floors, lead-glass windows, and a colonial kitchen with wide hearth. Antique embroideries, baby shoes and clothes, toys and dolls, portraits, furniture, and the trappings of an authentically equipped doctor's office, all from the house's onetime owner, fill the premises. Out back, a re-creation of the Hallett Barn displays antique farm implements, a 19th-century horse-drawn sleigh, and other interesting items. Next door, the smaller Conant House, a 1794 half-Cape (an asymmetrical 1½-story building), holds military memorabilia, whaling items, scrimshaw, sailors' valentines, and a genealogical- and historical-research library. One collection includes books, portraits, and other items relating to Katharine Lee Bates, the native daughter who wrote "America the Beautiful." The Falmouth Historical Society also owns the 1812 white Cape house where Bates was born, off-site at 16 Main Street. The house is no longer open to the public, but a plaque out front commemorates Bates's birth in 1859.

Guides give tours of the museums, and a formal garden with a gazebo and flagstone paths is adjacent. You can take a break with "Tea in Julia's Garden," which offers tea sandwiches, scones, and other refreshments on Thursday from 1 to 3 in July and August. There are also historical trolley tours in season; call for prices and times. Free walking tours of the town are available Tuesday at 4 in July and August.