This quintessential New England college town offers visitors so much to learn. From art to history to horses and nature, a visit here is likely to offer visitors new insights and information.

 

Middlebury College Museum of Art

The Middlebury College Museum of Art is an integral educational and cultural component of Middlebury College whose mission is to enable visitors to understand more fully the artistic achievements represented by a diversity of cultures. The collection of 6,000 objects ranges from antiquities to contemporary art and includes distinguished collections of Asian art, photography, 19th-century European and American sculpture and contemporary prints. Works from the permanent collection and special loan exhibitions are on display throughout the year, and the museum sponsors lectures, gallery talks, films, school programs and family workshops.

Summer temporary exhibits deal with “The year 1968” and “Just Kids” (photos of children).

“Museums like ours — which are free — provide an opportunity for reflection and thoughtful observation,” said Richard Saunders, director. “They have a secular parallel to religious environments” in that they can be “restorative.”

The museum is located in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, a multi-use facility designed by the New York architectural firm of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer.

Middlebury College Museum of Art

Mahaney Center for the Arts

72 Porter Field Road

Middlebury

Telephone: 802-443-5007

Online: museum.middlebury.edu

Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History

The Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History, also known as the Sheldon Museum, is a history museum created by Henry Sheldon in 1882 focusing on his private collections and the history of Vermont. It is located in the 1829 Judd-Harris House, a three-story brick Federal house, which showcases much of the museum’s collections, including furniture, art and artifacts. In addition, there are special exhibits and a hands-on children’s room with a dollhouse and dress-up clothes, which “families have really been enjoying,” said Associate Director Mary Manley. This summer the museum will host “Doughboys and Flyboys: WWI Stories by Vermonters From the Home and Battlefront” from July 31 through Nov. 11.

Henry Sheldon Museum

One Park Street

Middlebury

Telephone: 802-388-2117

Online: henrysheldonmuseum.org

University of Vermont Morgan Horse Farm

Col. Joseph Battell commissioned the Weybridge stock farm in 1878 to house his collection of the era’s finest Morgan horses. His passion for preserving the Morgan breed led him to publish the first few volumes of the Morgan horse registry, saving the breed from extinction. Today, the University of Vermont Morgan Horse Farm is a working farm of more than 40 Morgans that is open to the public May through October, offering seasonal events and educational opportunities for the public. The site is included on the National Register of Historic Places.

University of Vermont Morgan Horse Farm

74 Battell Drive

Weybridge

Telephone: 802-388-2011

Online: uvm.edu/cals/morganhorsefarm

Trail Around Middlebury

The “TAM,” as it is known locally, is a major project of the Middlebury Area Land Trust. The footpath is more than 18 miles long, encircles Middlebury and links several hundred acres of town land, conserved properties, schools and other local landmarks. The TAM loop includes two bridges that span Otter Creek.

On line: maltvt.org/trail/tam-trail

Telephone for the Middlebury Area Land Trust: 802-388-1007

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church (file photos)

In 1903 the last Mass was celebrated in the old brick Catholic church in Middlebury. Bishop John Michaud, coadjutor bishop of Burlington, had blessed the cornerstone of the current marble church in 1896. In 1907, the upper church was completed, and the first Mass was celebrated in it. The stained glass windows were installed in 1909, the Stations of the Cross in 1911 and the Estey pipe organ dedicated in 1910. The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was dedicated on Sept. 15, 1912, by Burlington Bishop Joseph Rice. The American opalescent drapery glass windows depict such subjects as the Resurrection; the Annunciation: the Assumption: Christ Calling St. Peter: Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; and the four doctors of the Church — St. Gregory the Great, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine and St. Jerome.

Telephone: 802-388-2943

Online: churchoftheassumptionvt.org

326 College St.

Masses: Saturday 5:15 p.m., Sunday 8 and 10 a.m.

—Originally published in the Summer 2018 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.