Another day…another museum.

Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio is a living museum. It’s a look at the American lifestyle in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Each building was brought to this spot and furnished with authentic pieces.

The village was the creation of Erie Sauder who started the  Sauder Furniture Company which is headquartered in Archbold. His own history is chronicled throughout the area. Other local families are represented with their homesteads and houses.

There are people at each building who are interpreters of the building’s purpose.

A barrel maker

A train depot

A one-room schoolhouse

There are many other crafts and businesses represented, several homes of local families, a farm, and a Native American area.

The cool thing is that in most of the buildings an artisan or volunteer actually works. So for example, in the blacksmith shop a man is making iron tools, in the basket shop women are weaving baskets, in a farmhouse a woman is cooking dinner, and so on. You can buy many items in each place.

The site also has a restaurant, a bakery, a candy shop, an ice cream parlor, a campground, and special events areas. Oh, and a children’s area where they can “be a farmer.”

I plan to take my grandkids there this summer. I highly recommend it if you enjoy history. It’s fun, educational, and I was impressed with the quality of information each interpreter gave. They are well trained and I liked the fact that they do not “become” someone in the past. Instead they explain and answer questions about their topic.

And I inquired about working there as a volunteer interpreter, maybe next summer.