Emory Johnson Homestead
The crown jewel of Johnsonville, the Emory Johnson Homestead holds firmly to its commanding post on the east side of Johnsonville Road.
One of the original structures to the area, it was built by Emory Johnson in 1842. By that time he had managed his own company, the Neptune Twine and Cord Co., for ten years. The mill continued to prosper and grow, as did the village of Johnsonville, with workers settling around the Johnson Millpond.
Five generations of Johnsonslived in the home, witnessing the Golden Age of cotton twine mills in the Connecticut River Valley, and its slow decline. The mill was sold to Mr. Schmitt in 1965, and ushered in the cultivation of nostalgic Johnsonville around the family's property. In 1970 the Schmitts acquired the Homestead.
Throughout the decade, the Emory Johnson Homestead was one of Historic Johnsonville's main attractions. Ray and Carole Schmitt filled it with their massive assemblage of everyday objects, and the finest and rarest antiques of the period. Thtey also staged tableaux vivants, period scenes with mannequins simulating the life of our historical ancestors.
Costumed live interpreters, mostly young women, dressed in Victorians gowns and led visitors through the space and demonstrated domestic rituals, including playing the parlor organ.