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2024

It’s been a full and exciting season!

In recent years we have made enormous strides toward our goals. The Adams Grist Mill has a new slate roof and is now handicap accessible with a historically appropriate handicap ramp installed. Thanks to a generous grant from Vermont Preservation Trust we are having the crumbling brickwork on the east wall of the mill repaired. Clean up inside the Mill—organizing, cataloging and restoring the fascinating items we have on display there, is moving steadily along. The Mill is open with docents on hand to welcome the public on summer weekends.

After wild flooding in Riverfront Park and a subsequent cleanup by our Park Supervisor, Annette Spaulding and her crew of volunteers, the Riverfront Park has gone through some changes and improvements. With grants from “Together We Can”, a group of generous patrons at PK’s Pub, the Village of Bellows Falls, and the Town of Rockingham we have been able to maintain the Park nicely. We purchased new rails and repaired the entire fence along the park’s walkways. New plantings and four raised flower beds filled with perennials, donated by Morning Star Perennials, are in the Park and the landscaping is kept beautiful by our “Mower Man,” Dan Gleason. The Park and Labyrinth have become an important recreational resource for the community. People come from near and far to attend the meetings, concerts, weddings and other gatherings that are held there. You’ll often see school classes being held in the park on sunny spring and autumn days.

The Society, with the help of online donations and an in-kind grant from downtown’s Works on Paper has become the owner of an extremely important piece of Vermont history donated by Aurelius DiBernardo. Created in the mid 1800’s this large wall map of Vermont spotlights the most important towns and villages within the State—Bellows Falls is one of those highlighted Villages!

We hope you will join us in preserving and sharing the history of our Village and helping with the beautification of Bellows Falls’ only access to the Connecticut River. The Bellows Falls Historical Society is supported entirely by donations from the local community. If you appreciate these accomplishments, and want us to continue, your financial support is truly crucial!

We also have several areas of participation if you are interested: archiving at our Center on Westminster Street, landscaping at the Riverfront Park, or becoming a docent at the Mill. We encourage you to join us in preserving or sharing the history of our Village and  helping with the beautification of Bellows Falls’ only access to the Connecticut River.Contact: bfhistoricalsociety@gmail.com

"The Historical Society helped me learn about the history of the home I recently purchased in Bellows Falls, providing me with a full photo album from the original family that owned it for over 100 years!"

VISIT the BFHS!

BFHS Archives, Education Center and Museum 31 Westminster Street, Bellows Falls - Open Wednesdays and Saturdays 1-3.

Appointments can be made by contacting bfhistoricalsociety@gmail.com.

The Frank Adams Grist Mill, 20 Mill Street, will be open for tours on summer Saturdays and Sundays 11-3 through Indigenous Peoples' Day weekend, with additional Monday hours during both the Labor Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day weekends -or by appointment. bfhistoricalsociety@gmail.com

The Riverfront Park is open to the public all year round - dawn to dusk!

VOLUNTEER for the BFHS!

Let us put your skills to work! Contact President Cathy Bergmann at bfhistoricalsociety@gmail.com