Museum Tours

Featuring "The Life & Times of Captain George Tate & His Family"

Captain Tate moved from London around 1751 with his wife, Mary, and their four sons. They arrived in Stroudwater, where Capt. Tate served as the senior mast agent for the British Royal Navy. The mast industry was vitally important to ensure England¹s supremacy on the seas, and Tate held an extremely important position within the industry. His home and its furnishings reflect Tate's status and wealth.

On the Tate House museum tour you will learn about the mast trade, Captain Tate's responsibilities, and the family's way of life in 18th century Maine including the decades leading up to the Revolutionary War. 

The museum tour lasts about one hour. Adults $7, Seniors $5, Children 6 - 12 $2, under 6 free.

Special Tours

Architecture tours are offered every first and third Thursdays during our open season. These tours take the visitor "from the cellar to the attic." See the base of that huge chimney, the actual size of the "ell," and the "marriage marks" on the rafters in the attic among other interesting architectural features on the one and a half hour tour starting at 10, 11:30, 1, or 2:30. $10.

Garden tours are offered every Wednesday during the regular season. Learn from our trained garden docents about Mary Tate's herb garden, used for cooking, medicine, and aromatic needs including the plant used for stuffing the mattresses. $3.

Our Cemetery Tour is offered on special occasions. Stroudwater cemetery is the final resting place of George and Mary Tate as well as all of their daughters-in-law. Their sons died away from home and are buried in Russia, the Caribbean, England and Eastern Cemetery in Portland.  BUT many other interesting folks lived in Stroudwater. Their stories and those of the stones is interestingly explained by our Cemetery researcher and lively docent. Learn about Lillian Stevens, an activist for women's suffrage and against alcohol.  Watch out for the "wolfman" and much more. 

Group tours and School tours by special arrangements.