Join our thriving community and keep our critical work moving forward, whether you are new to the area or a 10th-generation descendant. Since 1877, the Museum of Old Newbury has been collecting, preserving, and presenting the history of Newburyport, Newbury, West Newbury, Byfield, and Plum Island. Through objects, documents, and informative programming, we tell the stories of local people from the past four centuries.

Seasonal Saturdays! Winter Museum Hours begin on October 17, 2026. The museum will stay open on Saturdays from 11 a.m.–4 p.m. (*Last tour at 3 p.m.) Weather permitting.

Join the Museum of Old Newbury for an evening that makes 17th-century court records wicked fun.

Cask ale. Excellent pies. Bad behavior.

You are summoned to historic Pearson Tavern for an interactive court session drawn from the actual records of the Essex County Quarterly Courts, with our guests bringing the voices of early Newbury to life!

Forget what you have been taught about the 17th century. Court records reveal a world of complex, modern, and surprising people. Their testimony reveals feuding neighbors, scandalous romances, tavern disturbances, sharp tongues, and spectacular lapses in judgment (is that a chicken in your trousers?).Description goes here

A Newburyport story will take its place on an international stage this fall when Bethany Groff Dorau, Executive Director of the Museum of Old Newbury, travels to The National Archives in Kew, England, to present at The Prize Papers of the American War of Independence, an international workshop on October 8 and 9, 2026.