1869 SCHOOLHOUSE MUSEUM
The 1869 Schoolhouse Museum is where the Eastham Historical Society calls home. Here, you can see what it was like to be a student in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and explore a variety of historical artifacts.
Museum Hours
Our Schoolhouse Museum is currently closed - check back for our July 2025 opening times
LOCATION
The 1869 Schoolhouse Museum is located at 25 Schoolhouse Road at the intersection with Nauset Road across from the National Seashore Visitor Center.
ENTRANCE
Admission is free, but donations are requested to support the upkeep of the Museums.
The History of the Museum
It is housed in a one-room schoolhouse built in 1869. The original and remaining one of the three schoolhouses consolidated on that site in 1906, it served the town until 1936 when the last pupils moved to a newer building.
The old building (on right) stood abandoned until 1963 when the newly-formed Eastham Historical Society looked about for a place to house the town's historical treasures. The school building, then well on its way to decrepitude, was purchased, restored, and became a museum.
A large pair of whale jawbones formerly framed the gateway to the museum, but deterioration forced their removal a few years ago. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Museum Today
In 2008 a new museum addition was opened. The museum displays objects from the various facets of the town's history including farming, shipwrecks, the Life Saving Service, Native American artifacts, the school and daily life in town.
The schoolroom, now a children's "hands on" museum complete with its original schoolmaster's desk, is furnished to replicate how it looked in earlier days. Children of all ages are encouraged to sit at the desks, look at the books and "play school."
