Wendell, Massachusetts, incorporated 1781

TheWendell Historical Society

Wendell’s first history museum

In the 245 years since the town was founded, Wendell has never had its own history museum. The Wendell Historical Society (WHS) is now restoring the former Wendell Depot Store & post office as the permanent home for the town’s artifacts, photographs, documents, maps and stories.

Donate = Renovate Follow the restoration
The Wendell Depot Store and post office in 1971, with its Gibbs Package Store, Post Office and Light Lunches signs over the front porch
Wendell Depot Store and post office, 1971

Our Building Project

Wallace Goldsmith built the house in 1930 as a home and barbershop. It became a general store, luncheonette and post office in 1958. The WHS acquired it in 2023 and in just three years we have given new life to this historic structure.

WENDELL HISTORICAL SOCIETY
BuildingFormer Wendell Depot Store and post office
Built1930, by Wallace Goldsmith, age 74
His helperD. O. Perry
Next lifeWendell's first history museum

Progress Report

  • Added museum store extension
  • Removed old roof over side entrance
  • Installed new clapboards and trim
  • Installed energy efficient windows
  • Beautified exterior with new paint
  • Gutted the interior
  • Started new electrical wiring

This facelift was paid for by donations from our community!

Front of the Depot building during the exterior work in October 2026: light blue clapboards and shingled gable, white trim, the front porch with rocking chairs and the Wendell Historical Society sign
Exterior work, October, 2026

Donate

Our wish listWendell Historical Society
Wendell, MA 01379
  1. Porch deck
  2. Porch stairs
  3. New roof
  4. HVAC upgrade
  5. Electric upgrade
  6. Insulation
  7. Bathroom upgrade
  8. Access ramp repair
  9. Plumbing upgrade
  10. Septic
  11. Drainage upgrade
  12. Interior sheet rock
  13. Interior paint
  14. Floors
  15. Outdoor museum
  16. Tourist information kiosk

Our 200 year wait is just no fun, now is our chance to get the job done!

Don't wait, donate!Donate = Renovate

Our Building Project

An Exceptional History Museum

Wendell Historical Society exhibits will be displayed with a professional and artistic approach. Our interior design embraces creative layouts, beautiful wall colors and dramatic lighting to give the visitor a pleasurable and fulfilling history museum experience.

The society’s Old Home Day exhibit in August 2025: photographs on black display panels, a framed landscape painting and an old portrait on a yellow wall
Old Home Day exhibit, August, 2025

Our Building Project

Where the Community Meets Again

Cut away view of the planned interior: the Goldsmith Museum Store, the Gibbs Coffee Bar with its lunch counter and stools, and the Hartjens Center Museum with exhibits and a small concert

The Wendell Depot Store was always a center of community activity where folks chatted over a cup of coffee and where children bought penny candy after school.

Our Gibbs Coffee Bar will bring this long-lost tradition back home where it belongs. The original 1958 lunch counter has been saved and fully restored. The accompanying bar stools will have new paint, new chrome and will be named for prominent citizens who ‘reserved’ them back in the day.

The Goldsmith Museum Store is where you will find original works by local artists, antiques and collectibles, WHS merchandise and yes, even penny candy for the kids–just like it was a long time ago!

Our Hartjens Center Museum will have revolving exhibits and will serve as a performance venue for readings and living room style concerts.

At the Wendell Historical Society, friends will once again meet in a newly renovated climate-resilient building they know and love.

Our Building Project

History in the Depot, Inside and Out

The side of the Depot with the Outdoor Museum sign, large historic photographs on the clapboards, the Goldsmith Museum Store door and the access ramp

Friends and visitors from out of town will learn about Wendell in different and innovative ways. As you make your way up our side entrance, the Outdoor Museum begins our story with theater-size reproductions of historic images that are back-lit for day or nighttime viewing.

Our Building Project

The Wendell Historical Society: A Regional Hub

A red tourist information booth on the porch of the Depot

We are located at the north end of Wendell just off Route 2, the historic Mohawk Trail, and Route 2A, near the former Fitchburg Railroad and the Millers River. The towns of Orange, Warwick, Northfield and Erving, Massachusetts are all close by. Our research work is centered in Wendell and extends to neighboring towns, the Commonwealth and beyond. For those traveling through the area, the WHS is your destination for local history, genealogy and even information about nearby tourist attractions.

Pamphlets about the region: the Swift River Valley Historical Society, antiques, Western Mass and driving tours of the Mohawk Trail
Three friends talking in rocking chairs on the Depot porch

MUZE · Online museum and digital collections

Preserving Wendell’s Past

Artifacts, photographs, books, maps, ephemera and genealogy: a sample of what the WHS collects and protects in our climate controlled repository. Exhibits in the Hartjens Center Museum will reflect our extensive and growing collection which is always available online for you to enjoy.

Step into the past →
The Wendell Depot railroad station around 1900, with a freight car, a baggage cart and people on the platform

Wendell Depot Station ca 1900

Wendell had its own train station from 1848 until it was demolished in 1942.

2023.6b.2Photographs
Rusted iron d-ring from a horse bridle

A horse bridle d-ring

This item was discovered under an exterior wall at our museum during renovations in June, 2025. We think it slipped between the wall during construction in 1930.

2023.1.49Physical Objects
1858 map of Wendell Center with roads, houses and family names

Map of Wendell Center, 1858

By H. F. Wallings with historic family names and buildings that have been lost over time.

2023.13.4Maps and Plans
Victorian chain mesh purse with an ornate metal frame

A Victorian chain purse

Found at the Wendell Parsonage in 2003 at the location of an old carriage shed.

2023.1.37Physical Objects
Landscape painting of blue hills under a pale evening sky

“Landscape” by Michael Brenneman, 1993

One of several Brenneman works donated to the WHS by Edward Judice.

2023.9.26Fine Art
Wendell Town Hall around 1900, a clapboard building with a tall flagpole

Wendell Town Hall ca 1900

The town hall building became the Center School in the 1930s and then housed town offices again in the 1970s. It was destroyed in the 2006 tornado.

2023.6c.6Fine Art

News & Events

News

The WHS making history every day!

News

The 1787 Massachusetts cent: both sides of the worn coin found in Wendell above, and both sides of a coin in perfect condition below

New · Wendell, Mass.

WHS receives 18th century coin

A Wendell resident recently found a colonial coin behind their home and gifted it to the WHS. Both sides of the coin are pictured in the top half of this photo. The lower half shows the two sides of the coin if it were in perfect condition. The coin is notable because it was minted by the state of Massachusetts before the federal mint came into being. After the Revolutionary War, there was a severe shortage of coin money compounded by a mish-mash of foreign and counterfeit coins, so several states stepped in to both bolster and homogenize coinage. The Massachusetts mint operated from 1786 to 1789.

This 1787 “CENT” coin is now part of our permanent collection.

2023.1.54Physical Objects

Two women holding the Ballard tavern sign in front of a red barn
Dottie Frye (left) of the Swift River Valley Historical Society presents the Ballard Tavern sign to WHS board member Pam Richardson.

· New Salem, Mass.

The Ballard Tavern sign comes home

The tavern was in the two story house that still stands at the corner of Jennison and Old Stage Coach Roads, on the stage coach route from Greenfield through Wendell to Petersham and Worcester. Daniel Ballard, Josiah Ballard and Josiah's brother James ran it for almost four decades.

The sign went to the Swift River Valley Historical Society in 1939. It came back to Wendell 86 years later at the request of Josiah Ballard's great-great-granddaughter, the genealogist and centenarian Fay Hunting Bennett.

Read the full story (PDF)

Events

  1. Dec192026

    Holiday Art Sale & Raffle

    To benefit the Wendell Historical Society
    466 Wendell Depot Road, Wendell, MA
    Saturday, December 19, 2026
    9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
    Raffle drawing at 2:00 p.m.

    Preview selections from the art sale
    Click to view next selection

    Spread some joy and help support the WHS at our Holiday Art Sale and Raffle, Saturday, December 19, 2026 at the Wendell Historical Society, 466 Wendell Depot Rd., Wendell, MA. We’ll open at exactly 9:00 a.m., and while you shop you’ll be able to see how much progress we’ve made on our building renovations. We’re selling a large collection of paintings, vintage posters and art photography that will make the perfect holiday gift or addition to your home and office. There are some very unusual and collectible pieces in this collection, so come early to get the best selection.
    All proceeds to benefit your Wendell Historical Society.

  2. Dec192026

    Win a set of cornhole boards & bean bags

    Raffle to benefit the WHS
    466 Wendell Depot Rd.
    Wendell, MA 01379
    December 19, 2026
    2:00 p.m.

    The two cornhole boards, navy blue: one with the Wendell Historical Society building and name, one with the Wendell Country Store cartoon “We’re all here... ’cause we’re not all there!”, and a starburst that says WIN!

    Join us at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 19, 2026 when we will select one lucky winner of a set of outdoor cornhole boards and bean bags. These regulation boards feature the WHS logo and the popular “We’re all here…’cause we’re not all there!” Wendell Country Store cartoon drawing by our own Donna Horn. Whether you are a cornhole expert, know someone who is or are just curious about this popular outdoor game, here is your chance to win a great prize and help the WHS at the same time. Tickets are $5 each can be purchased from any WHS board member or at the Wendell Country Store through December 18, 2026. Contact the WHS for more information; the winner does not have to be present at the time of the drawing. Good luck and thank you for supporting the Wendell Historical Society!

  3. Nov92026

    Annual Fall Fundraiser

    Your financial support keeps us moving forward.

    Alvin Fiske standing on a farm wagon behind his team of two harnessed draft horses
    Alvin Fiske, 1877-1966

    As the holidays approach, please include the Wendell Historical Society on your gift list. Starting November 9, 2026, we are making a special appeal to everyone who supports the volunteer work we do every day. The Wendell Historical Society tells the story of local history in ways that set us apart from all other organizations and we’re proud of that! We need your contribution right now to help complete renovations, to open our museum doors and to insure that the WHS will be around for many years to come.

    So please help make the season brighter for everyone by mailing your tax deductible contribution right now to:
    Wendell Historical Society, Wendell, MA 01379; or donate online.
    Thank you for keeping history alive!

    Donate

  4. Jul232024

    Troubled Waters

    Wendell Free Library, Herrick Room · 6:30 pm

    Wendell's doomed power plant, 1909 to 1938. Co-sponsored by the Wendell Free Library.

    Watch on YouTube

At the picture show

Wendell on film

Films and presentations produced by the dedicated historians of our town.

All films on YouTube →
Title card for Troubled Waters, Wendell's doomed power plant, 1909 to 1938

Troubled Waters

Wendell's doomed power plant, 1909 to 1938.

▶ Admit one
Painted title card for Farm on the Common

Farm on the Common

The story of agriculture in Wendell, Massachusetts.

▶ Admit one
Old photograph of Jack Ellis as a smiling boy in a white cap

The Night Jack Ellis Died

A tribute to a beloved Wendell citizen, by WHS President Edward Hines. Part of the 2025 Ashfield Film Festival.

▶ Admit one

The reading room

Wendell in print

Stories of people and places in Wendell, Massachusetts: a unique New England hill town.

Cover of the Charles Ballou collection, with an engraved cow and horse and two portraits

The Mayor of Wendell

Charles Martin Ballou, one of our most influential and controversial citizens, in clippings and stories.

Read more

Portrait of Wallace M. Goldsmith in a bow tie

The man who built our house

Wallace M. Goldsmith constructed the WHS building in 1930 as a home and barbershop.

Read more

Pam Richardson in front of an old map of Wendell, holding her book Wendell, Massachusetts: Its Settlers and Citizenry, 1752-1900

Wendell MA History

Author, historian and WHS board member Pam Richardson's local history blog.

Read more

Support the Wendell Historical Society

Historical societies don't grow on trees

They grow with your financial support.

NameA friend of the WHS
Gift$15 a month

The Wendell Historical Society is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. TIN 92-3299944. Wendell, MA 01379.

Your gift helps keep history alive!

1

Make a one-time donation

Mail your tax deductible contribution to:
Wendell Historical Society
Wendell, MA 01379
or donate online right now.

Donate
2

Become a monthly donor

Just $15 a month helps pay the utilities, the insurance and the heating.

Give monthly
3

Give through your fund

Donor advisors with Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable and the BNY Mellon Charitable Gift Fund can give through DAF Direct.

DAF Direct
4

Include the WHS in your estate plan

So that future generations can continue the important work we started together. (Contact the WHS for more information)

Our good neighbors · local businesses that support the WHS

Pete's Tire Barns
Diemand Farm
Dean's Beans
Greenfield Savings Bank
Wendell Country StoreWe're all here, 'cause we're not all there!
Greenfield & Northampton Cooperative Bank
Scotty's Potties
John's Paint Store
Stamell StringsStringed instruments · violin, viola, cello, bass
Don Mathews Excavating
G & S Lyman Excavating
Orange Oil Co.
Jason Tolzdorf
Bergeron Electric Co.

Shop at the WHS Museum Store

Take a little Wendell home for the holidays!

T-shirts, aprons, hats, postcards, books, photography, and visual arts. When you shop at the WHS Museum Store, you support the museum and our vibrant community of artists and artisans.

Apparel

Proudly displaying the Wendell town name

WHS T-shirt

WHS T-shirt

Artwork by Susan (Dunlaney) Von Ranson. 100% heavy cotton T, white with a purple print.
Sizes S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL

WHSAP-001, plus shipping

$25
Wendell Train Hat

Wendell Train Hat

For men, women, girls and boys. One size fits all.

WHSAP-002, plus shipping

$25
Wendell Apron

Wendell Apron

One size fits all. Grey or brown stripes.

WHSAP-003, plus shipping

$25

Books and postcards

Our history in print and photos

Wendell Massachusetts, Its Settlers and Citizenry, 1752-1900, By Pam Richardson

Wendell Massachusetts, Its Settlers and Citizenry, 1752-1900

By Pam Richardson

Non fiction, paperback

WHSPB-001, plus shipping

$25
Wendell Depot Railroad StationPutnam Store and post officeWendell Depot Power PlantMain Road, Wendell DepotWendell Depot SquareMillers River and Bears Den Mountain

Vintage Views of Wendell Depot

Set of six picture postcards with classic views of the lost village of Wendell Depot. Cards are 5” x 7”; also available as framed 8” x 10” glossy photos by special order.

  1. Wendell Depot Railroad Station
  2. Putnam Store and post office
  3. Wendell Depot Power Plant
  4. Main Road, Wendell Depot
  5. Wendell Depot Square
  6. Millers River and Bears Den Mountain

WHSPC-001, plus shipping

$10

Visual Art

Paintings and prints by local artists

Wendell Parsonage, Painting by Christine Texiera

Wendell Parsonage

Painting by Christine Texiera

The original watercolor print on photo paper.

WHSVA-009, price includes shipping

$20
Autumn View of Kentfield and Wendell Depot Roads

Autumn View of Kentfield and Wendell Depot Roads

Photo print, framed.

WHSVA-010, plus shipping

$25
Norman the Cat, Print by Donna Horn

Norman the Cat

Print by Donna Horn

Print, framed, 8 by 10 inches.

WHSVA-002, plus shipping

$45
August, Print by Donna Horn

August

Print by Donna Horn

Print, framed, 8 by 10 inches.

WHSVA-001, plus shipping

$45
Water Goddess, Print by Donna Horn

Water Goddess

Print by Donna Horn

Print, framed, 8 by 10 inches.

WHSVA-003, plus shipping

$45
The Artist in Its Studio, Painting and print by Donna Horn

The Artist in Its Studio

Painting and print by Donna Horn

The framed print or acrylic on unstretched canvas.

WHSVA-004, contact the society for pickup or shipping rates

$45

Photography

Signed prints by Django Skorupa on Red River Palo Duro Etching 315 paper, unmounted. Contact the society for mounting and framing.

Born in Light

Born in Light

Signed print, 11 by 14 inches.

WHSPA-005, price includes shipping

$70
The Last Harvest 1

The Last Harvest 1

Signed print, 5 by 7 inches.

WHSPA-006, price includes shipping

$35
The Last Harvest 2

The Last Harvest 2

Signed print, 5 by 7 inches.

WHSPA-007, price includes shipping

$35
Crumbling, Fading

Crumbling, Fading

Signed print, 10 by 10 inches.

WHSPA-008

$50

Music

Recordings by Wendell resident Edward J. Hines. CD price includes shipping; digital downloads are sent by email.

The Best of Anatolia

The Best of Anatolia (2019)

Turkish and Arabic folk music performed on traditional Middle Eastern instruments.

$14.95
Aksak for Piano

Aksak for Piano (2021)

Classical piano music inspired by Turkish folk songs.

$14.95
An American in Istanbul

An American in Istanbul (1999)

The Yeni Makam series of classical chamber music.

$14.95

Are you an artist

and want to sell your work at the WHS? Contact us for more details.

Who we are

A society of friends & neighbors

The Wendell Historical Society actively collects, archives, preserves and displays items from our shared past. When the museum opens, it will be a center of research and learning with readings, concerts exhibits and more.

Read our mission

The board

President
Edward J. Hines
Treasurer
Joyce Flynn
Clerk
Jackie Hunt
Directors
Pamela Richardson, Florrie Blackbird, Joseph Coll, Kristina Hartjens, Michael Hartjens, Sheila Rowe
Two people holding the society's registration papers at the town office

Official business registration with Wendell Town Clerk Anna Wetherby, April 1, 2023. No April fool!

Have something for the museum?

Tell us all about it.

Thank you. A WHS representative will contact you shortly. This information will not be shared with the public without your consent.

Contact the WHS

Send us a message.