Old Schwamb Mill Open House

Join us at the Mill’s annual Spring Open House on Saturday, March 30 from 11 am to 5 pm. Our special guests will be the Celtic musicians Matt and Shannon Heaton, who will perform updated and traditional Irish music. With engaging stage presence and masterfully-crafted music, this Boston-based duo offers well-travelled Irish music from the heart. Steeped in sessions in County Clare and brewed in the acoustic music scenes of Boston and Chicago, their instrumentals and sweet harmony draw deeply from the Irish tradition.

Enjoy a reception and tour of the exhibition “A Brook Runs Through It – Arlington’s Mill Brook Legacy.” From 1637 until the 1920s, Arlington’s Mill Brook bustled with industrial activity, ranging from grist and saw mills to large-scale manufacturing of saws, spices, wheat meal, fur clothing, wood products, and calico printing. The original source of water power from the cascading brook was gradually replaced by steam and electric power, but this fast-moving brook was a significant reason for Arlington’s early growth and development.

In addition, the Open House will feature continuous tours of the Mill, which is the oldest continuously-operating mill site in the United States. The Mill currently produces hand-turned oval wooden frames created much as they were in 1864.

The schedule of the day:  Tours of the Mill 11 am to 2 pm; performance by the Heatons from  2-3:30 pm, and reception and exhibit talk from 3:30 to 4:30 pm.