Greetings, and thanks for visiting our web site! Since you’re here, we’d like to point out that the season for giving is upon us once again. A time for giving thanks for all that we are blessed with, as well as a time for giving away all the excess money we have accumulated over the past year! It’s also a time for giving merely to assuage our guilt; and a time for giving as a way to ensure that the things that matter to us are taken care of.
If any of those reasons might possibly apply to you, we hope that the things we do here at the Stow Historical Society matter to you! We hope that you have a little excess cash, or that you’re feeling a little guilty that you haven’t yet done all that you can do to help preserve Stow’s historical artifacts or to help us share and educate others about Stow’s unique place in history, especially during these incredibly historic 250th anniversary years of 2025 and 2026.
We know that there are so many worthy organizations for you to give to. But if you have anything left after you’ve done right by those organizations that pull at your heart strings, you can then save a century-old family heirloom from a horrific and very undignified disposal in a landfill, or educate people about all Stow’s historic homes like the “Murder Farm”, for example. The ways your generous donation to the Stow Historical Society might be used are many and varied.
So, please consider giving to the Stow Historical Society during this season of giving. “Giving Tuesday” is December 2nd!
Just click on Donate/Membership. You will be a better person for it, and Stow will be a better place!
Awareness, Education, Preservation
Since 1961, the Stow Historical Society has worked to share and preserve Stow’s history through publications, programs and other activities for all who care about this historic New England farming community. As a private, nonprofit organization, the Society maintains a small collection of artifacts related to Stow history, and presents programs and events to educate and raise awareness of our town’s distinguished past.
“White Papers,” Programs and Events
Following its founding in 1961, the Society emphasized development of research papers about Stow. In monthly meetings Society members presented “white papers” on topics ranging from the backgrounds of historic building like Whitman’s Tavern (now a residence at Honey Pot Hill Orchard) to memoirs about living and growing up in Stow to the devastating effects of the Hurricane of 1938.
Over the years, the society has helped in the planning of the Stow West School restoration and the formation of the Stow Minuteman Company. It has focused on special events including art shows, farm shows, dedications, tours and, of course, Springfest, the town-wide celebration of the incorporation of Stow in 1683.
Stow History Books
The Society also supports publication of books about Stow history. There are several published histories of Stow, four published by the society. Look here for our books. Also see the Sources page for more.
Online History
A much more succinct History of Stow was created by the Society for the Town of Stow website, and is available here.
Current Programs
Following the passing of long-serving President Marilyn Zavorsky, the Society has re-organized under a new Executive Board at the beginning of 2025. The new Board hopes to re-establish regular on-going programs in the near future. Several special events were held during 2025, and there are more to come.
Please see our Facebook page and Stow TV on YouTube to see videos of the many events we have held.
A Time Capsule
To mark the Society’s 50th anniversary in 2011, the Society sealed the Stow Time Capsule, to be opened on its 100th anniversary in 2061. contents include “letters to the future” and artifacts as diverse as newspapers, photographs of 2011 Stow, books, brochures, Stow restaurant menus, golf course scorecards and labels from the town’s famed apple orchards.
Stow Historical Society 