#MergerMondays: Old Sturbridge Village + Coggehall Farm Museum

Rhode Island’s roots run deep, and this week, they’ve become even more fortified. With this joyful union, Coggeshall Farm Museum and Old Sturbridge Village are weaving their stories together, enriching each other’s legacies and deepening the experience of living history in Rhode Island. 

As of July 23, 2025, Coggeshall Farm Museum, an 18th-century salt marsh tenant farm, has formally merged with Old Sturbridge Village, the Northeast’s largest living history museum. The two have worked in close partnership since 2020, and this next step ensures long-term stability, richer programming, and expanded reach for the Rhode Island site.

The merger unites two institutions that share a mission: helping modern audiences connect with the realities of early American life. Coggeshall focuses on the 1790s, portraying the day-to-day experience of tenant farmers. OSV picks up in the early 1800s with a robust campus of 40+ historic buildings, heritage breed animals, and over 200,000 annual visitors.

Thanks to OSV’s operational capacity, Coggeshall can now focus more deeply on new exhibits, educational programming, and community events all while keeping its unique identity. Both names will remain, and Coggeshall will be represented on OSV’s Board of Trustees.

“This merger between our two, like-minded museums makes natural sense,” said Morgan Devlin, Chair of Coggeshall’s Board. OSV CEO Jim Donahue echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the importance of sustainability in today’s tourism economy: “Some organizations are just too small to go it alone.”

This is a joyful moment for Rhode Island—and a win for anyone who believes in the power of history to connect, teach, and inspire. The past is alive and well in Bristol, and its future just got a whole lot brighter.

Explore the full announcement here:

https://coggeshallfarm.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/FINAL-Press-Release-Coggeshall-Merger.pdf