School Tours
As the oldest historic house museum in the Greater Portland area, Tate House Museum (1755) offers school programs to help students better understand the social, political, and architectural history of pre-Revolutionary 18th-century Maine. We encourage student groups of all ages to visit from third grade through college.
Our elementary school program features a museum visit that includes both a House Tour and a hands-on experience with the Tate Family Trunk. A video and resource packet are available for teachers to use prior to their visit to the museum.
The School Tour fee is $7 per student. Chaperones and teachers are free. For younger students we request one adult per 10 students, with preferably no more than 50 students at one time. Please plan on a two hour visit to include both the trunk and the house tour.
Tate Family Trunk
To better educate students about historic preservation, as well the idea of respecting the "real thing," we offer our newly refurbished "Tate Family Trunk." The trunk is filled with reproductions of 18th century objects, similar to those that might have been used by the Tate family in the 1750s, 1760s, and 1770s. Students can see, touch, and experiment with everything inside!
House Tour: The Life and Times of George Tate and his Family
Captain Tate moved from London around 1751 with his wife, Mary, and their four sons, ages 17, 15, 9, and 4. They arrived in Stroudwater, where Captain Tate served as the senior mast agent for the British Royal Navy. The mast industry played a vital role in ensuring England's supremacy on the seas, and Captain Tate held an extremely important position within that industry. The family home and its furnishings reflect their status and wealth. The tour focuses on the mast trade, Tate's responsibilities, and the family's way of life in 18th century Maine in the decades leading up to the Revolutionary War. What was life like back then for nine-year-old children or college aged youth?
Please contact us at 207-774-6177 for more information and to make reservations.