The Mattapoisett Museum & Carriage House offers visitors a close look and hands on experience in the history of this town, which started as a seaside village in the 1680s. Each summer offers a new temporary exhibit to the "Meeting House" - the 1820s Christian Church Sanctuary which serves as our exhibition hall and performance space. Our replica 1820s Carriage House behind the Church explores the now-lost everyday life and work of a typical New England "small town" of the 18th and 19th centuries, showcasing a large array of artifacts from our agricultural economy and cottage industries - from ice harvesting to salt making - from a reconstructed iron forge (moved brick by brick from where it stood for over 100 years) to the Mattapoisett-manufactured tin Acme Peanut Roasters! Mattapoisett, having been known as the town which provided New Bedford with her fleet of whaling ships, our Mendell Maritime Gallery engages visitors with the tools of the shipbuilding trade and New England whale fishery.
