Nearly 240,000 people visited Old Sturbridge Village in 2008, boosting the living museum’s attendance by 8 percent over the previous year.
The museum, which depicts rural life in the 1830s, said membership also increased 8 percent over 2007 to 6,700 member households and donations to the museum have more-than doubled over the same period.
James E. Donahue, the museum’s president and CEO, said the economy, and especially sky-high gas prices, kept vacationers closer to home last year. He noted that the museum is within an hour’s drive of some 8 million people.
During the year, the museum raised $90,000 during a single fundraising event and sold out its Independence Day fireworks display and its Thanksgiving dinner. It also saw attendance increase by more than 35 percent for April school vacation week and Columbus Day weekend.
More than 60,000 school children visited Old Sturbridge Village in 2008.
