Cultural Attractions

The Great Falls Discovery Center is a DCR state park located in a complex of historic paper mill buildings in downtown Turners Falls. Enjoy life-size habitat dioramas of the Connecticut River watershed, including plant and animal life from source to sea, an information desk, an art gallery, and event space.

The Great Falls Discovery Center offers community programs, performances, visual art, and history exhibits focusing on the natural, cultural, and industrial history of the Connecticut River watershed. The Friends of the Great Falls Discovery Center group contributes to programming through fundraising at their popular Coffee House series of musical performances and through volunteering.

Don’t miss the mysterious Jurassic Armored Mudball located in the lawn of the Center! There are only a handful of other places in the world where they have been discovered. Enjoy A Geologic Walking Tour of Turners Falls Massachusetts on our Friends Group website too!

The Great Falls Discovery Center is free, fully accessible and open to the public. Visit the website for hours, information, and to view the event calendar. Interested in becoming a volunteer? Contact the Friends of the Great Falls Discovery friendsofgfdc@gmail.com.

Voted “Best Museum in Franklin County 2025”and “Best Museum for Kids in Franklin County 2025” by readers of the Greenfield Recorder!

For questions about the center, visit greatfallsdiscoverycenter.org or please call 413-863-3221.

Constructed in 1906 by esteemed Boston architects McLean and Wright and funded by the Carnegie Corporation, the Carnegie Library offers materials, services, and programs to foster educational, cultural, and recreational enrichment in the community. The Carnegie Library is part of the Montague Public Libraries system, which also includes the Millers Falls Branch Library and the Montague Center Branch Library.

In addition to traditional media, the Montague Public Libraries offer a robust Library of Things as well as e-content, such as e-books, e-audiobooks, and video streaming services for all ages. All you need is your library card. Notable research collections are the Local History Collection and the Oral History Collection of audio interviews by Montague elders.  The library also offers a seasonal seed library.

Interested in taking a day trip? Borrow a free entry pass to a regional museum or State park! For more information about The Montague Public Libraries visit the website.

The Shea Theater Arts Center is Franklin County's only publicly owned performing arts center. The 330-seat venue is a true community theater, offering sold out performances by international acts, as well as diverse programming by local and regional performers of all genres. The Shea Theater Arts Center is operated by the STAC Board of Directors, the Managing Director, and a group of dedicated volunteers. GET TO THE SHEA!

HISTORY: Established in 1927 by Denis Shea, this movie theater was designed in the "Spanish" style so popular in the Hollywood of the twenties. In 1973 a commune known as the Renaissance Community bought the Shea and used it as a recording studio and site for their religious activities. In 1986 they sold it to the Franklin County Community Development Corp, who launched the restoration project. The Town of Montague bought the property and rents the theater to the STAC non-profit for $1 a year.

Contact:

Linda Tardif, General Manager
sheatheaterartscenter@gmail.com
Booking Inquiries

MAIL: P.O Box 773
Turners Falls, MA 01376

JaDuke Inc. is a vibrant performing arts hub in the heart of Franklin County, offering year-round opportunities for creativity, education, and live performance. Home to a 540-seat theater, and The Center for the Performing Arts, JaDuke produces professional-quality theatrical productions and hosts youth and adult performances that bring the community together.

The Center for the Performing Arts offers comprehensive training in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, contemporary, and musical theater dance, along with acting and vocal instruction for students of all ages. Through classes, rehearsals, and fully staged productions, artists develop technique, confidence, and a lifelong love of the performing arts. Next Level Music Academy complements these offerings with focused music instruction, supporting JaDuke’s mission to provide well-rounded arts education within the region. Together, these programs create a dynamic space where emerging artists build skills, gain confidence, and connect with the community through the performing arts.

For More Information about JaDuke Performances.
For More Information about JaDuke Classes.

The village of Lake Pleasant is the smallest of Montague’s  five villages in terms of both area and population.  It is the site of an early and prominent American Spiritualist summer camp community dating to the late 19th century and is known as the oldest continuously existing same-site Spiritualist center in the United States (see The National Spiritual Alliance below). It is also home to the Bridge of Names (see below) – the best place to view the lake that provides a back-up drinking water supply to the town of Montague and managed by the Turners Falls Water District – as well as Rutter’s Park, a renovated park with playground equipment, green space, and a pavilion.

The National Spiritual Alliance
The National Spiritual Alliance, founded in 1913 and located at 2 Montague Avenue, carries forward the legacy of Lake Pleasant’s historic Spiritualist community. In addition to Sunday Spiritualist Services, the Alliance offers cultural and educational programming throughout the year, including music, literature, and opportunities for personal spiritual exploration. These programs reflect Lake Pleasant’s longstanding tradition of welcoming “all who seek spiritual understanding” in open-minded spiritual inquiry, including the practice of mediumship and spiritual healing

‍Bridge of Names
Owasso Ave., Lake Pleasant
‍Spanning the distance between the two neighborhoods of the village is the Bridge of Names, so called because every picket bears an engraved name decided by whomever purchased each picket, whether that name is a resident family or individual or a non-resident. There are approximately 1400 pickets on the wooden walkway, which is 220 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 45 feet tall at its greatest height.

Two incarnations preceded the Bridge of Names. The original footbridge was constructed in 1888 by Frank Bickford (Greenfield). Forty years later, in 1929,Minnie Rutter (Utica, NY) donated funds to reconstruct the deteriorated walkway as the Fred Rutter Memorial Bridge, in honor of her son. But by the late-1950sthat bridge had collapsed, and the village was divided again.

Seeds of the Bridge of Names sprouted in 1974 with the creation of the Lake Pleasant Village Association (LPVA), a volunteer organization whose primary purpose is to maintain the bridge that physically and symbolically connects the two neighborhoods of the village.

In 2012, with the help of many volunteers and a community improvement grant,the LPVA made significant bridge renovations, including re roofing the blockhouses on both ends of the bridge. When the bridge was severely damaged in 2020by a storm, completely destroying one end, the bridge was renovated yet again by the LPVA thanks to generous community donations and the construction work of the Dole Brothers. A sincere thank you to all those who have supported these renovation.
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Contact
Email

Books You Don’t Need in a Place You Can’t Find

The Montague Bookmill is a used bookstore housed in an 1842 gristmill, set on the banks of the Sawmill River, a few miles north of Amherst and Northampton, Massachusetts. Their collection leans toward the academic, but we have thousands of books, on just about everything from Austen and anarchy to Zola and zoology. Books are generally half-price, including recent publishers’ overstocks. The mill is also home to Sawmill River Arts and Turn It Up! There is great food and drink all day at the Lady Killigrew Café

Open every day from 10am to 6pm. https://montaguebookmill.com/

Fine Art & Handmade Gifts from over 30 Local Artists & Makers

Possibly the friendliest gallery you’ll ever visit, Sawmill River Arts features a variety of exceptional fine art and handmade goods, in price ranges that appeal to gift givers and art collectors alike. Work includes jewelry, paintings (originals and reproductions), photography, pottery, gourds, collage, note cards, hooked rugs, hand-made books, wearable fiber art, as well as creations in wood and metal. Thursday-Monday 11am-5pm. Visit the website for more about Sawmill River Arts.

A Community Center and Performing Arts Space

A beautiful example of neo-gothic architecture, the Montague Common Hall is located adjacent to the Montague Center Town Common. Originally built in 1834 as a Unitarian church, the building served for many years as the home of the Montague Grange. The Montague Common Hall is now operated by a volunteer-based non-profit and is committed to preserving this historic resource for a diverse range of community and cultural events. For more information about the Montague Common Hall and to view the event calendar visit the website.

An Online Repository of Montague & Greater Franklin County History

The database includes thousands of photos, documents, and videos. Images can be searched by topic, village or author. https://montaguearchive.org/

Ed Gregory, Chief Historian