05/29/2026
This beautiful spinning wheel is in the 1776 room of our Exhibition "Independence Revisited: Sharon in 1776, 1876,1976." Come see it and many other treasures from our collection and on loan from your neighbors.
This large-wheel spinning wheel — known variously as a walking wheel, wool wheel, or great wheel — was used to spin wool into yarn. Unlike the smaller flax wheel, which the spinner operates seated, the walking wheel requires its user to stand and step backward as the yarn is drawn out, then step forward to wind it onto the spindle. The wheel is stamped “L Judson” indicating it was made by Lewis Judson (1780-1829), a woodworker from Amenia specializing in spinning wheels, or his son Lewis Hubbell Judson (1809-1880), who practiced his father’s profession in Amenia before moving to upstate New York. In a colonial New England household, a wheel like this would have been in near-constant use across the colder months, its output measured not in yards but in the clothing, blankets, and stockings it eventually produced. The accession date of 1911 makes this one of the earliest objects to enter the Sharon Historical Society's collection.
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Sharon Historical Society and Museum Hours:
Wednesday – Friday, 12-4pm
Saturday, 10am-2pm
Admission is free
