Visitors can sit back and enjoy a ride on the horse drawn bobsleds or actually participate in the cutting of the ice blocks. They'll have the chance to watch a mule pull the old-fashioned ice plow, on loan to the museum by the Erie Canal Village in Rome, and see a team of oxen pulling the ice to the icehouse. Eleven to 15 tons of ice is packed into the museum's icehouse in one day. The blocks of ice will stay frozen until September or October, just as in years past. Refreshments, including hot soup supplied by local restaurants, will be available.
Visitors can warm up in the conference room and get a bite to eat.
Mill-made products, historic books and other gifts will be sold in the museum's Briar Street Gift Shop. Hanford Mills Museum is one of the last 19th-century mills to survive. It has been recognized by the State and National Registers of Historical Places. The museum has a fully operational sawmill and gristmill with a wood-working shop. A historic waterwheel powers the mill.