Host Your Event Where Revolutions Begin and Innovation is Ongoing

Central Massachusetts is home to bold ideas, rich history, and modern amenities in the heart of New England. If your group is seeking inspiration in a historic setting, Central Massachusetts has both the venues and attractions to bring your team to for a perfect combination of work and play. 

Revolutionary Outings

Old Sturbridge Village

STURBRIDGE, MA

This living history museum recreates rural New England life in the early 1800s, and hosts reenactments and demonstrations year-round.

Salisbury Mansion

WORCESTER, MA

Salisbury Mansion tells the story of Worcester, was built in 1772, and was the scene of preparations for the local 1774 revolution.

American Antiquarian Society

WORCESTER, MA

Visit a nationally renowned library founded by Isaiah Thomas, housing an 18th-century printing press & Revolutionary War-era materials.

Willard House & Clock Museum

GRAFTON, MA

Visit the birthplace and original workshop of the Willard clockmakers, a significant three-generation legacy founded in 1766.

Waters Farm Preservation

SUTTON, MA

Featuring a 1757 homestead, the open‐air, living‐history museum on 120 acres of farmland offers a bucolic escape with colonial significance.

Optical Heritage Museum

SOUTHBRIDGE, MA

The region’s deep-rooted innovations in optics, shaping millions of lives, are showcased through thousands of items in the museum’s collection.

Historic Venues

The Publick House Historic Inn

STURBRIDGE, MA

Meet here to stay in period-decorated rooms and dine at this historic 1771 inn & country lodge where the Revolutionary-era travelers once visited.

Samuel Slater Experience

WEBSTER, MA

Gather where America’s Industrial Revolution in New England comes to life. This museum boasts holograms, interactive, and iconic large-scale displays.

American Heritage Museum

HUDSON, MA

Offer your guests the chance to interact with exhibits featuring tanks, military vehicles, and aircraft spanning nearly 100 years under one roof.

Wellsworth Hotel

STURBRIDGE, MA

Wellsworth Hotel offers modern hotel and conference center amenities, while reflecting 160 years of heritage as American Optical Co.’s headquarters.

Mechanics Hall

WORCESTER, MA

Renowned for its elegance and sound qualities, Mechanic’s Hall has been judged by architectural historians as the nation’s finest pre-Civil War concert hall.

EcoTarium

WORCESTER, MA

This 200-year-old museum in Worcester, Massachsetts was founded in 1825 as the Worcester Lyceum of Natural History to foster an appreciation and understanding of the natural world. Hosting acclaimed guests, such as Henry David Thoreau in 1849 and Thomas Edison in 1884, the venue has deep roots in sharing revolutionary ideas and discoveries. EcoTarium is one of the oldest natural history museums in the country, and their 45-acre campus includes a science center with three floors of interactive exhibits, Alden Planetarium, Science Discovery programs and extensive outdoor nature trails, wildlife zoo and habitats, seasonal railroad with the Explorer Express Train, and an extensive outdoor play exhibit, Nature Explore®.

did you know?

Iconic Ideas and Innovations from Across the Region

• 1774 The peaceful ‘Worcester Revolution’ overtook district courts on September 6th, which ended British rule in Central Mass
• 1776 Isaiah Thomas held the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Massachusetts in Worcester.
• 1860 Worcester hosted the first National Women’s Rights Convention on Nov. 23rd.
• 1884 Thomas Edison demonstrated his electric lighting system at a public exhibition in Worcester, MA. This was developed into the first traveling exhibit of the Worcester Natural History Society, an organization that would later become Worcester's EcoTarium. 
• 1926 Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, MA.
• 1960s NASA space suits for missions Mercury to Apollo, manufactured in Worcester, MA.