The Samuel Slater Experience will celebrate its first holiday season with special hours during school vacation week between Christmas and New Year’s and with a visit from Santa on the museum’s popular re-creation of Webster’s Main Street at the turn of the 20th Century.

 

Described as “Disney-like,” the SSE employs state-of-the-art 4-D digital technology to tell the story of Samuel Slater. Exhibits cover two time periods: the early 1800s and the early 1900s.

A welcome sight on Main Streets everywhere in December is Santa Claus and on Saturday, December 3 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., young visitors to the museum will have a chance to meet St. Nick for a holiday photo with this historical figure and young Samuel Slater.

A great family activity during school vacation week, the Samuel Slater Experience is designed to be educational and entertaining. It encourages visitors to see and feel history in a new, immersive way as they climb aboard the ship that carried Samuel Slater to America, learn about life in the early 1800s and ride a trolley through downtown Webster a century later.

Samuel Slater traveled from England to America in 1789 with Britain’s textile industry secrets in his head. He successfully created the country’s first cotton spinning jenny and established the American factory system. He became known as “the father of the American Industrial Revolution.”

By the early 1900s, rural New England was dotted with thriving mill towns. One of these was in Webster, where Slater owned and operated six cotton and woolen mills. Webster became a vacation destination for tourists from as far away as New York City. 

The Samuel Slater Experience is supported by the Janet Malser Humanities Trust, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and individual donations.

Special December vacation hours are December 27-29, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The daily schedule is Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 4:00 p.m. NOTE: The museum will be closed December 23-25 and December 30-January 1.

The museum will host an Open House for Webster residents with proof of residency on Sunday, December 4 from noon to 4:00 p.m.

For more information, visit https://samuelslaterexperience.org.