About the Waterloo Farm Museum/Dewey School

The Waterloo Farm Museum and Dewey School are located in Waterloo, Michigan, near Stockbridge and Chelsea. Currently on 3 acres, the original property was over 50 acres and is surrounded by swamps, fields, and hills typical of glaciated areas in Southern Central Michigan. There was an orchard and cider mill across from the farm house which were torn down by the State of Michigan over 50 years ago. The house was saved and turned into the Waterloo Farm Museum and after the work of many volunteers it has been maintained mostly as it was. Original buildings were maintained and additional buildings to celebrate the Michigan Pioneer farming life have be brought here.

The Dewey School is located a short drive from the Farm Museum and is an original one room school house, which were common throughout the area but are now disappearing due to neglect.

The Farm Museum and Dewey School are a unique experience, different from Greenfield Village, which replicates an 1800th century village.

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We are currently off regular tour season and unless there is a special event the Farm Museum and Dewey School are closed until early June.

Summer Hours

Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays

June 7th through September 1st, 2013 1pm - 5pm

Waterloo Farm Museum provides guided tours of the ten-room farmhouse, log cabin, barns, blacksmith and woodworking workshop, bake house, ice house, milk cellar, and windmill.  These tours are lead by knowledgeable guides in period dress. The gift shop will also be open at this time as well, to browse and purchase books, crafts, toys, collectables and clothing.

Museum tour fees are $5 for adults and $2  for children aged 5-12. There is no museum tour fee for children under 5 and members of the Waterloo Area Historical Society.

Please plan on arriving by 4:15pm to allow enough time for a tour prior to the Farm Museum closing for the day.

Saturday June 22, 2013 10am - 5pm

Sunday June 23, 2013 Noon - 5pm

Michigan Artist Blacksmith Association members demonstrate their skills at the fixed forge and their own portable forges. Re-enactors portray the Civil War era, and we join the statewide celebration of Michigan's Log Cabins on Sunday.

• We honor and foster an understanding and appreciation in children and adults of the pioneer farmers of Michigan, their family life and their children's schooling. This years event will feature more opportunities than ever for children and adults to enjoy hands-on pioneer experiences. Spend the day in the Civil War Encampment, try your hand at wood carving, or learn how to make socks on a 19th century sock machine. The baker will be busy in the bake house, the blacksmith in his shop, Mr. Realy in the barn, and Mrs. Realy in her garden. The weekend culminates as we join Michigan's statewide Log Cabin Day celebration, when you can observe a young couple setting up housekeeping in their log house.
• CIVIL WAR SOLDIER ENCAMPMENT: See Civil War soldiers carrying out their daily activities, and see how those they left behind coped.
• BLACKSMITH FESTIVAL: Blacksmiths from near and far will join our blacksmith, setting up their forges to demonstrate their skills.
• LOG CABIN DAY: Log Cabin Day is a statewide event that shows the way to the past. It is still the only annual statewide log cabin celebration in the USA. Come out to the farm and see one of the few log cabins open to the public. We are very proud of our log house and surroundings. Guides will be available to give tours.

Admission to the Waterloo Farm Museum grounds for this event is $5 for adults and $2 for children aged 5-12. There is no admission charge for children under 5 and members of the Waterloo Area Historical Society. Admission includes a guided tour of the ten-room farmhouse.