Willard House and Clock Museum, Clock museum in North Grafton, Massachusetts, United States.
Willard House is a clock museum in North Grafton, Massachusetts, housing more than 80 timepieces created by the Willard family. The building preserves original rooms of an 18th-century farmhouse furnished with period pieces and displays horological instruments used in the craft.
Benjamin Willard founded clockmaking at this location in 1766, establishing a family business that grew across generations. His brothers Simon, Ephraim, and Aaron joined the enterprise, making the Willard name known throughout early America.
The house displays clockmaking as a family craft that shaped local pride and reputation in early America. Visitors can see not just finished timepieces but the working methods and precision that made this household's name known throughout the country.
You can walk through furnished rooms where original timepieces still operate and observe their mechanisms up close. A library on-site offers reference materials to deepen your understanding of the clockmaking process and the family's work.
An astronomical regulator built by Simon Willard Jr. in 1840 reveals how precise timekeeping became essential for coordinating railway operations. This timepiece showcases the technological advances the family achieved and how their work transformed transportation systems.
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