Old Sturbridge Village, in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, is a "living history" museum. It functions very much as a New England town of the 1830s would have, and it's fascinating and enlightening to see how skills"long forgotten by most of us"were employed in a variety of ways to make such a village thrive.

As an historical site, Old Sturbridge Village brings the early to mid 1800s to life vividly with considerable detail and historical accuracy. Each building was brought to the site from other towns around the region to make up a Village typical of the period in rural New England.

Here one can learn about the emphasis on the agrarian lifestyle that characterized much of the nation during the period.

Much more than a museum, historical site or simply a great New England museum, Old Sturbridge Village is quintessentially New England in its essence and character. It's steeped in Yankee ethics, tradition and ingenuity and the surrounding area is peaceful and inviting.

This great NewEngland museum is about as complete an early 1800s town as one can find anywhere. Its exhibits are living characterizations of a far simpler time; a lifestyle replete with differing beliefs, religious and philosophical, that blended here into a unique, harmonious environment that flourished as the nation grew.

In fact, a visit to the village gives one a hint of utopia, a social concept carefully nurtured in nearby parts of New England during the 1800s.

Staff members here, laboring at early American chores in authentic period dress, are happy to demonstrate their crafts and trades and are very knowledgeable about the lifestyle, technology and culture of the era they represent. Having them as living, oral-history reinactors with the exhibits and visitors adds enormously to what one sees in each building, field or common.

The village complex comprises two parts: The common and center village, where social interaction occurred; and the countryside, where the farming was done.

One learns best by doing, and Old Sturbridge Village knows well how to teach. Visitors may build a stone wall (using lightweight foam "rocks") and small-scale snake-rail (zigzag) fences; assemble a small-scale post-and-beam structure; pump water using a hand pump on the Common; "raise" a bucket from its various components in the Cooper Shop; try on a straight-lasted shoe in the Shoe Shop, and more.

There are also various opportunities to interact with the times at the farm, including harvesting activities (pulling root vegetables, digging for potatoes, picking corn, threshing and winnowing grain, etc.). In January and February, visitors can take a turn at dipping tallow candles.

Old Sturbridge Village is open year-round and each season brings related special events. As for holidays, special focus is given to Washington's Birthday, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving, the three major holidays in the Village's period.

Also new to the Village is an exploration of the history of Christmas traditions in December. The Village is decorated for the month of December, known as "Spirit of the Season," and offers several candlelight evenings.

If you're interested in a way of life long since past, you can recapture it here in all of its fullness. It's a must stop on any New England getaway.