Centerville Historical Museum

CURRENT EXHIBITS

click on Exhibitions tab for more information

Lives and Times of Centerville’s Crosbys

The Crosby house on Main Street has for years kept its history hidden from view until this past summer when the papers were delivered, dusted off, sorted, read and chosen to reveal the everyday life of one Centerville family through a hundred years and more of village life and business.

the WAIST

Selecting thirty 19th century waists from the collection, we have compiled fine examples of the popular types, styles and fashions of that century.

What's Underneath

This exhibit visually illustrates the evolution of women’s undergarments from the mid 19th century to the present.

Speakeasy

This examines the history of those tumultuous times on the 100 years anniversary of prohibition, in the exhibit Speakeasy. Utilizing museum objects, photographs and historical accounts of the day we recount the story of the prohibition era including: the bootlegging of rum runners row, Cape Cod’s involvement, the phenomena that became known as the Speakeasy, and Centerville’s own Speakeasy.

18th & 19th Century Small Armaments

This exhibit examines the technological changes of small armaments between 1780 and 1875, using rifles, swords, daggers and bullets from the museum collection.

The Trade Card

This exhibit features the trade card. Originally the “trade” in trade card refers to its use by the proprietor of a business to announce his trade, or line of business. In the period before mass media, they functioned as advertising, directing the public to the merchants’ stores. The trade card is an early example of the modern business card. The use of trade cards in America was popular between 1876 and 1901. Their popularity peaked due in part to the advent of color lithography and multi-color printing and increasingly sophisticated designs.

Battles; Spies; Cooties The Great War

1918 is the hundredth anniversary of the United States’ involvement in the Great War. Centerville Museum examines the major battles, the development of espionage, the changes in the technology of warfare and the personal accounts of World War One veterans.

Shipwrecks! mystery - murder - misery

View the exhibit videos
- click the Exhibition tab on the tool bar above (desk top) or the gray menu square above (mobile) to view video.

Coming Event
Art and Wine Event
History of Ghost Haunting in Centerville

- click the Events tab on the tool bar above (desk top) or the gray menu square above (mobile).