WEBSTER, Mass. – The Samuel Slater Experience, a historic museum featuring state-of-the-art 4-D digital technology to tell the story of Samuel Slater, the beginnings of the American Industrial Revolution, and the founding of Webster, Mass. in the early 19th century, announced Wednesday it will open its doors to the public on March 4 for its first self-guided tours.

A team of specialists has been busy working on the former National Guard Armory building in Webster since 2018.

The Samuel Slater Experience comprises over 20 unique exhibits that transport the audience back to the early 1800s.

The museum tells the story of Samuel Slater and his immigration to America, his success during the era and his impact on the Bay State. Guests will explore Slater’s unique factory model that would transform textile manufacturing in America. The museum then takes you forward a century, recreating downtown Webster in the early 1900s, which has become a hub of commerce and industry. 

“It has been our vision to bring an interactive and dynamic experience that would engage students and families alike back to the roots of this town and area,” says Samuel Slater Experience founder Christopher Robert. “We are thrilled to bring this new concept of learning to students and visitors in the same light that Samuel Slater brought technological innovation to textile manufacturing - The Samuel Slater Experience will allow visitors to become immersed in life as it once was, to feel the waves crashing on a boat crossing the Atlantic, to hear the bustling of massive machinery in the heart of a full-scale New England mill, and see life on Main Street in Webster at the turn of the 20th Century.”

Robert founded Webster Museums in 2017 and the nonprofit organization’s first project is the completion of the Samuel Slater Experience.

Webster Museums originally planned to open the exhibit last September, though because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the opening date was pushed back.

Samuel Slater Experience is in the Old Webster Armory at 31 Ray Street in Webster. For more information and tickets, visit samuelslaterexperience.org.