Smithsonian’s Traveling Crossroads Exhibit
The Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village, in partnership with Vermont Humanities, New Hampshire Humanities, and Newport Downtown Development (NDD), is thrilled to host the traveling exhibit, Crossroads: Change in Rural America, from the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program.
August 25 thru September 28.
Closing reception and Alexander Twilight Day celebration – Sunday, September 28, 2025
11 AM – 1 PM, NEK Tasting Center, 150 Main St., Newport, VT
Refreshments provided by Eden Ciders and Flaky Crust; supported by Witches Brew—all located in the NEK Tasting Center!
Presenting…
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THEÂ CHARISMATIC, ENIGMATIC ALEXANDER LUCIUS TWILIGHT (1795-1857)
Spencer Kuchle, Associate Director of Collections and Interpretation at the Old Stone House Museum and Historic Village, and William B. Hart, Professor Emeritus of History at Middlebury College, will offer brief remarks on the extraordinary life and times of Alexander Lucius Twilight (1795-1857). Topics include Twilight’s childhood in Corinth, VT; his education at Middlebury College; his career as preceptor and teacher at the Orleans County Grammar School and as acting pastor at the Brownington Congregational Church; his time serving in the Vermont legislature; Twilight’s racial identity and representations of him; and more. Come learn about this remarkable individual who broke barriers, established precedents, and made history.
Crossroads: Change in Rural America in Newport Aug 25 – Sept 28Â |Â Open Monday through Saturday from 10am-4pm
Part of the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program, the exhibition celebrates how rural communities have adapted, preserved, and redefined themselves over time. Changes to Newport’s own Main Street offer a mirror for understanding countless rural crossroads shaping 21st -century small-town America. The exhibit will also feature photographs from a new exhibit, Picturing the Past, housed in the Old Stone House Museum’s Lawrence Barn. These include historic photos of Newport detailing the many changes it has endured and how residents have worked together to be good neighbors through trials and tribulations.
Other Orleans County towns showcased are Albany, Barton, Brownington, Craftsbury, Derby, and Glover.
We hope you will join us to reflect on how far we have come, what we have preserved, and which trends and values continue to shape us today as we stroll along the Northeast Kingdom’s Main Streets.
