The Madison Historical Society will host an open house on Saturday, Nov. 26 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Allis-Bushnell House at 853 Boston Post Road. The idea for this event grew out of the highly successful Small Business Saturday program that encourages holiday shoppers to support local businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

The downstairs rooms of the historic house museum are curated to represent five distinct periods in Madison history. Guides in each room will help visitors to imagine each room’s use during specific notable events in Madison’s history. In the Colonial kitchen, for instance, Abigail Meigs may well have organized a spinning party in 1770 to protest British taxes on such goods as tea and textiles. In the dining room, Frederick Lee may have hosted, in May 1836, a celebration of the establishment of the newly named Town of Madison. The tour continues to the year 1839, when an abolitionist meeting is known to have taken place here when the house was owned by Nathan and Chloe Bushnell. In the Victorian parlor, guides will describe 14-year-old Emilie Ely, who wrote passionately to her sister about Madison’s Civil War draft in 1861. The final stop on the tour is in the 1920 Tea Room, designed to evoke the spirit of Susan Josephine Hart on the day the women of Madison learned that they had been given the right to vote.

The MHS organizes this annual event in support of all local businesses and organizations. The MHS encourages visitors to shop in Madison’s stores and to eat in Madison’s restaurants before and after a tour. This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.