Wayside Inn Show Guide 2012

11 and established the WIHS as a non-profit entity. The WIHS remains dedicated to the preservation and steward- ship of its open campus as well as to the interpretation and operation of the old Howe Tavern, which is represented today by the Wayside Inn itself. Three museum rooms in the Wayside Inn build- ing are set aside strictly for the purposes of interpreting its role as a colonial homestead, exhibiting objects once owned by the Howe family as well as an eclectic collection of decorative arts purchased by Henry Ford. Generations of travelers and owners have left their mark on this internationally known establishment, as reflected in the manuscripts and objects related to the site’s history 150-yard section of the unpaved roadway, which runs within ten feet of the Inn’s front entrance. A 501(c)3 non-profit organization since 1945, the WIHS offers a variety of programming to its visiting public, using trained interpreters versed in the property’s nearly 300-years of operation. The village-like campus— which includes a water- powered gristmill, non- denominational chapel, and one-room 18th-century schoolhouse—was originally conceived by former owner Henry Ford, and is generally recognized as the first living-history museum in the United States. Ford, who owned the Inn from 1923 to 1945, made many changes. He ran a school on the property for a specially selected group of boys who were wards of the state, training them for work in his Dearborn, Michigan, factories. Ford also developed agricultural fields and canning facilities, acquired acres of additional land,