Aptucxet Trading Post Museum facts for kids
Replica of the Aptucxet Trading Post
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| Established | 1930 |
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| Location | Bourne, Massachusetts |
| Type | Historic site |
| Owner | Bourne Historical Society |
The Aptucxet Trading Post Museum is a cool outdoor history museum in Bourne, Massachusetts. Its main attraction is a copy of the Aptucxet Trading Post from the 1600s. The Pilgrims from Plymouth Colony built this post. They used it to trade with the Wampanoag Native Americans and the Dutch.
The museum also has other interesting things. You can see a copy of a 19th-century saltworks. There's also a Gray Gables Railroad Station building that was moved here. Plus, there's a wooden smock windmill. This whole property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.
Contents
The Original Trading Post
Why the Pilgrims Built It
In 1627, English colonists from Plymouth Colony set up a trading post. It was about 20 miles (32 km) south of Plymouth. This spot was called Aptucxet, on the Manamet River. This was the Pilgrims' first lasting settlement on Cape Cod. They had visited the area before to trade for corn and beans.
The name Aptucxet comes from the Wampanoag language. It means "little trap in the river." This might refer to a fishing weir, which is a fence or enclosure used to catch fish.
The main reason for the post was to trade with the Wampanoag people. The colonists needed corn and beans from the Native Americans. Some colonists also hoped to trade furs to pay back their debts to England. The trading post also became a place for the English to trade with the Dutch colonists. The Dutch lived in New Amsterdam, which is now New York City.
Life at the Trading Post
Aptucxet was the first trading post built by the Plymouth colonists. Later, they built others in Connecticut and Maine. Aptucxet was far from the main colony. Colonists lived there all year round.
A big storm, the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635, damaged one of the buildings. By the 1650s, the trading post was no longer used. The land later became part of a farm.
Finding the Old Post
People started looking for the old trading post in 1852. John Batchelder and William Russell dug up part of a double cellar. They thought it was from the original post.
Later, the Bourne Historical Society bought the land in 1922. More digging happened between 1926 and 1929. The current replica building was built in 1930. It stands right on top of the original foundations. The builders used what they found during the digs.
Location Change
In the early 1900s, the Manamet and Scusset Rivers were made wider. They were connected to form the Cape Cod Canal. This new canal followed a path very similar to the one the Pilgrims used. So, the Aptucxet Trading Post Museum is now right on the banks of the Cape Cod Canal. It's no longer on the Manamet River.
Saltworks
The museum also has a copy of a saltworks. These were used in the 1800s to make sea salt. A saltworks uses square wooden tubs. Seawater was poured into these tubs and left to dry up. Each tub has a sliding roof. This roof can be used to protect the water from dew and rain. The museum's replica was built in 1967. It was rebuilt again in 2000 and 2014.
Gray Gables Railroad Station
The museum is home to the original station building from the nearby Gray Gables Railroad Station. It was built in 1892. It was close to President Grover Cleveland's summer home, Gray Gables. The station even had a direct telegraph line to Washington, D.C.!
The station closed in the 1940s. The Bourne Historical Society bought it in 1976. It was moved to the Aptucxet Trading Post Museum in 1977. The building was fixed up in 2014.
See also
