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THE OLD ORDINARY, 1688
Winner of
the 2009 CNC Regional Readers Choice Award for best
museum
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As welcoming today as it was when it was a destination for
hungry travelers and townspeople of Hingham, the Old Ordinary is a
stirring reminder of the way life used to be when this place was a
village and most of the land was farmed. Now surrounded by graceful
old homes on a street hard by the town's vital business center, this
17th-century building that began as a home and eventually became a
tavern serving ordinary fare and warming drink to its customers
is now a house museum owned and operated by the Hingham
Historical Society.
A charming colonial structure sided with weathered clapboards
and enhanced by a colorful period garden, designed by Frederick
Law Olmstead Jr., the museum is filled with furniture and
samplers, dishes and toys that once belonged to the town's
oldest families. To enter this building is to step back
in time, to an era of simple ways and pleasures, when a Daniel
Webster might stop by to have a mug of his favorite mulled cider, on
the way from his home in Marshfield to the bustling streets of
Boston, there to practice law and further his political career.
 From
the tap room, where Webster or, earlier, Revolutionary War General
Benjamin Lincoln, might have been found smoking a pipe with friends,
one can move on to the dining room furnished with Chippendale
chairs that came
from the estate of Francis Barker, who owned the house at the time
of the Revolution. A kitchen outfitted with utensils and tools
centuries old gives some insight into how our ancestors kept house.
Upstairs, visitors can the bedchambers that trace the growing
abundance of our community as it moved from a tiny 17th century
settlement to a prosperous coastal harbor town
Help us discover the identity of our mystery object.
The Old Ordinary, 21 Lincoln
Street, is open annually from early June through
early September, Tuesday through Saturday, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Admission: adults, $5; children, $3. After Labor Day, the museum
is open by appointment.
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