Just an FYI for those expecting to visit on June 11th we will not be doing our usual guided tours because we have our fundraiser event GALA DAY going on. The house will open for self guided visitation and you will be able to use the audio tour to learn about the history. We will have staff on site to answer questions but we will not be doing our normal museum procedures.
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GALA DAY IS BACK! Join us for our annual summer fundraiser “Gala Day”!
The very first “Gala Day & Garden Party Bazaar” was held at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead in 1912 right after becoming a Museum, and they continued to be held annually through the 1920’s! It was a way to welcome the community to explore the newly restored historic house, learn about local history, and just enjoy the beautiful grounds on a summer day. This also marks the 10th year since our first Gala Day reenactment!
This year we are traveling back to the 1920s. Come experience our version of Gala Day, complete with the original entrance fee of only 25¢.
We encourage you and your whole family to come dressed in your best 1920s attire and spend the day with us!
Explore the home of Rebecca Nurse
Listen to popular music from the 1920’s
Watch silent “moving pictures” in the Meetinghouse
Try your hand at playing period-style lawn games; we have Croquet and Bocce. (But feel free to bring your own lawn games as well.
You are welcome to arrive anytime throughout the day from 9:45 on but we will be closing the site down right at 4pm.
Visitors will NOT be permitted to setup picnics inside any of the historic structures.
Things to bring:
Blankets
Lawn chairs
Picnic Foods (we will have some baked goods and cold drinks available for purchase)
Sunscreen & Bug Spray
Lawn Games
Please do not bring
Alcohol
Cigarettes or similar items (we do not allow smoking on-site)
Grills of any kind
We also have a carry-in, carry-out policy for trash, we will gladly supply small trash bags for people to place trash into before you leave.
We would like to extend a big THANK YOU to the many people who helped support the Nurse Homestead in so many ways over the course of this year! As we prepare the property for the upcoming winter weather we please ask potential visitors, and locals to keep a few things in mind…
For the safety of you as a visitor, and and the safeguard of our historic property, we do not allow visitation of ANY part of the property while we are closed for the season (this includes locals who have previously used the property as a walking trail or shortcut to Collins Street or the Rail Trail), and ask that you be respectful of this.
We will also be unable to honor any private tour requests from December-February but will welcome special visitor requests again starting in March (weather permitting and upon volunteer availability).
Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding, of the limited resources of our volunteer run site. Check back with us in the Spring for all of our exciting 2022 EVENTS!
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These special guided tours will be the ONLY guided tours available this October with a maximum capacity of 25 people per tour. The tour length will be roughly 60-75 minutes.
The tour begins at sunset with a short (300 yard) walk along the tree lined path to the back of the property, to the ancient Nurse Family Cemetery.
At the next stop your guide will tell you about the history of Rebecca’s home, and her family and then allow each party to pass through the candlelit home.
The final stop on the tour is the Meetinghouse. This building is an exact replica of the 1672 Salem Village Meetinghouse where many of the early hearings of suspects such as Tituba & Rebecca Nurse took place.
These tours will be offered on Friday and Saturday nights in October. The tour will begin at sunset and conclude right before Twilight. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets
Adults: $15
Seniors: $13
Children (6-16): $10
Please plan extra travel time as added traffic in October could delay arrival, also prepare for any kind of weather, temperatures can be unpredictable in October.
Please read our COVID guidelines for visitation HERE before purchasing tickets.
DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED, WE ARE SO SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS CAUSES, WE HOPE TO DO THIS EVENT AGAIN IN 2022.
Come get your hands dirty with us as you become an archaeologist for the day!
Working alongside professionals from the University of Southern Maine, kids and adults can try their hand at digging and uncovering pieces of history. Over the past decade we have uncovered thousands of artifacts on our site that have given a glimpse into the lives of those who have walked these grounds for the past millennia…What will you discover?
This event takes place entirely outside we suggest, wearing a hat, sunscreen and bug spray, and if you don’t want to get your hands dirty bring some gardening gloves.
ADMISSION IS FREE FOR THIS EVENT but to visit the Museum buildings admission is required.
Hours- 10:00AM -3:00PM Lecture at 12:30pm on the 25th and 26th only
All proceeds from this limited edition T-Shirt will go towards our major restoration projects this year including the final stage of roofing the Nurse Family House.
Shirts are $27.95 (with shipping included) for international shipping prices please email us
(Please note we are only releasing a select number of sizes online to make sure we do not oversell our stock, if you are not able to get the size you want please email info@rebeccanurse.org with the desired size and we can check to see if we still have them in stock)
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As we get closer to the fall season we wanted to update our upcoming hours
August: Wednesday-Saturday only from 10:00am-3:00pm*
September: Saturdays only from 10:00am-3:00pm*
October: Weekends only from 10:00am-3:00pm*
*(Last admission tickets are sold at 2:30pm so please plan accordingly)
CLICK HERE link to pre-purchase admission tickets. (We might also be able to sell some tickets at the door if we are not sold out for the time slot, but tickets are first come first served)
Please read our Tour Information page for the updated COVID-19 Visitation Guidelines.
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We’re inviting everyone to mail us postcards from your hometown, or a birthday card, (feel free to be creative!) To honor Rebecca’s 400th Birthday. It could include a birthday message to Rebecca with how she has impacted you all these centuries later.
We will display them at the museum in a temporary exhibit this year and share some here for our followers. All of them will be scanned and archived for future generations.
Please consider sending a donation along with your card to help preserve this wonderful site, we are hoping to raise enough money to match a grant we received this year to re-roof the front of the Nurse Homestead and do some much needed restoration work to our barn as well.
If you would like to donate right now you can CLICK HERE
#RebeccaNurse400
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To reach the Nurse Homestead traveling north on Route 128, take Exit 41 (Endicott Street), turn right onto Endicott, right on Sylvan Street, then bear left to Pine Street. Enter by taking a left at 149 Pine Street.