Red Mill Museum Village

09/02/2026

👻 Put Your Business in the Spotlight at the Haunted Red Mill!

More than 7,000 people come to Haunted Red Mill each year, making it one of the area’s most popular Halloween traditions—and our biggest fundraiser of the year.

Becoming a Haunted Red Mill sponsor puts your business in front of thousands of engaged visitors while helping support the preservation of our historic site. And sponsorship comes with some pretty great perks—including highly coveted Haunted Speed Passes! 🎟️

Get your business seen. Support a great cause. And get ready to skip the line.

👉 Become a Haunted Red Mill sponsor today! Information can be found at the link in bio or here: https://canva.link/3refswbc7gxw1on

09/01/2026

If visiting the Red Mill Museum Village is on your summer bucket list, you only have FIVE days left! Our last regular day for the season will be Sunday, September 6th as we will be beginning to build for our Haunted Red Mill.

The shop will be open on weekends in September from 11-5, and the Haunted Red Mill opens on Friday, October 2nd.

08/31/2026

Have fun, meet new people and help us prepare for our biggest fundraiser of the year!!

Looking for something to do now that the kids are back in school? Or are the kids looking for fun ways to get volunteer hours?

Whatever the reason, we'd love your help this season! The Haunted Red Mill is the Mill Museum Village's BIGGEST fundraiser of the year and we need all hands on deck to make it happen. Our crew has become a tightknit family who has fun while working together. Whether you have three hours or thirty, we'd love to have you join us!

Check the signup genius link and sign up today! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080A48ADA92AABFF2-65243390-haunted #/

08/28/2026

The Peace Flags have been adorning the Pony Pratt Truss Bridge all summer, creating a beautiful, colorful reminder of the hopes, stories and intentions shared by nearly 1,200 community members. 💙🏳️

There’s something especially fitting about knowing that, as the flags have weathered the summer, the artists’ words and intentions have slowly been released into the air and carried out into the universe. ✨

But if you haven’t seen them yet—or want one more look—this is your last chance! The Peace Flags will be coming down Monday, August 31.

Take a walk across the bridge, enjoy their beauty and take a moment to reflect on the messages they’ve carried with them all summer.

08/28/2026

🌿 Snip, Snip, Hooray! 🌿

Touring the Colonial Garden and snipping fresh herbs to take home was a big hit at our Adult Field Trip: Stay Salty—so we’re bringing it back for our remaining summer Discovery Days!

This Friday through Sunday and next Friday through Sunday, you’ll find everything you need near the garden gate to snip a few herbs to take home. Use them for decoration, culinary creations, or whatever inspires you!

🌱 Free with admission. Come explore the garden, enjoy the grounds, and take a little piece of summer home with you!

08/27/2026

📚 Step Back in Time & Make Your Own Hornbook!

Celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by stepping back in time for a lesson in a one-room schoolhouse. Discover how the Revolutionary War and Declaration of Independence were taught more than a century ago, then consider how our understanding—and the way we teach this history—has changed over time. Then, to make history tangible, create your own hornbook to take home!

A hornbook is an early learning tool used to teach children basic lessons such as the alphabet and numbers. It was usually a single printed page mounted on a wooden paddle and covered with a thin, transparent sheet of animal horn to protect it.

✨ Make-your-own hornbook this Saturday, free with admission while supplies last!

📅 Saturday August 29th at 1, 2 & 3 PM

08/27/2026

Leatherworker Gary Elsing of returns to Discovery Days to close out the season on this Saturday and Sunday.

A second-generation craftsman, Gary learned leatherwork from his father and continues the tradition with skill, care, and a deep respect for its history. His work ranges from belts and pouches to detailed historical reproductions, all made with precision and purpose. Just as importantly, Gary is committed to keeping the craft alive—regularly demonstrating and teaching leatherworking to inspire new makers and preserve these skills for future generations.

Join us to see him in action and learn about this centuries-old trade on Saturday and then join him as he hosts our last Slow Stitch Sunday where you can learn some of the basic tools and skills needed to make a leather key fob or bookmark that you can take home with you.

08/26/2026

On This Day: August 26, 1914
On this day in 1914, we’re taking a step back in time to a summer day at Sunnyside, just south of Clinton near Hamden along the South Branch of the Raritan River.
This glass plate negative captures J.C. Probasco, Betty Francke, and Pauline Probasco enjoying an afternoon of fishing from a wooden dam. The original envelope simply identified the scene as “The Dam at Sunnyside.”
The photograph offers a glimpse of how the South Branch of the Raritan River was part of the landscape and daily life of the area. For these three, on this particular day, the river provided a place to fish and enjoy time outdoors.
Photograph by Beldon D. Howell
Gift of Harold Van Natta
From the Red Mill Museum Village Collection
What would a day at the river have looked like for your family?

08/26/2026

George Washington & the First Balloon Flight

Friday, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM

Travel back to 1793 and discover the excitement of America’s first balloon flight! We’ll read the children’s book George Washington and the First Balloon Flight and learn about the remarkable day when President George Washington watched French aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard take to the skies in a hydrogen balloon.

After the story, children will become balloon makers themselves, creating and decorating their own paper balloons to take home.

A fun, hands-on way to explore early American history, storytelling, and the wonder of flight!

08/26/2026

It's our final Discovery Days 2026 weekend and we're going out with a bang! Come to our Story Mill on Friday to find out all about George Washington and the First Balloon Flight, visit the Schoolhouse on Saturday to make your own hornbook, or come grab some herbs from our herb garden. Gary Elsing of GJE Leather is here too, not only demonstrating in the Tenant House on Saturday but also leading Slow Stitch Sunday there too! And of course we also have our regular events happening. Our blacksmiths will be here all weekend, our curator will be answering questions and we have Textile Fellowship on Friday, and our Story Mill Makerspace is here all weekend. Come see us for this packed weekend and celebrate the finale of our Discovery Days programming. We look forward to seeing you here!