By Elizabeth Wilkerson--Daily Staff Writer

WOODSTOCK — The Woodstock Museum is teaming with a downtown business to offer a guided walking tour of the town.

Woodstock Museum President Bob Lowerre said the first walking tours are scheduled for 2 p.m. this Saturday, as well as on Oct. 11, 18 and 25. The museum's board of directors began planning the tour because of a number of requests from visitors and businesses "who were convinced it would be a nice addition to the things we have," Lowerre said.

"There's been a successful walking tour for some time in New Market, so we knew the thing could work," Lowerre said. The tour is a joint venture with Dorothy Brown's Fine Things, at 139 S. Main St., he said, which will "administer" the tour and sell tickets.

Carolyn Garman, who, along with Frances Edwards, owns Dorothy Brown's Fine Things, said part of the shop's business plan was to promote and put forward Woodstock's downtown area. The tour, which takes about an hour to complete, will begin at the shop, Lowerre said.

"So, in asking questions and talking with various members of the community about how we might do that, the walking tour came up," Garman said. She said she and Edwards are both "history buffs," so they built such a tour into their plan.

"And then we found out the museum actually had written a tour," she said, and "we thought this was a place to start. ... It just kind of grew from there." Garman said the Woodstock Cafe, where the tour will end, is also helping to promote the walking tour.

Then, Lowerre said, "almost by a chance encounter" they met Sue Bloomfield, who will lead the tour. Bloomfield has "done a lot of research and makes an excellent presentation," he said.

On the tour, participants can see a number of Woodstock's historic structures, he said, such as the museum's two buildings, the Marshall House and the Wickham House, and the historic courthouse. A number of notable homes on Main, Muhlenberg and other surrounding streets are also on the tour, he said.

Garman said the tour includes stops at churches and businesses, as well, and information about the history of those places. The tour also includes information on how the community has grown, how it was affected by the Civil War, some ghost stories, the caverns and caves below many homes in town, and "Peter Muhlenberg, of course," she said.

"We don't know exactly where it's headed from here," she said of the tour. "That will depend a lot upon the response to the tour and the questions people generate."

After the tours take place in October, she said, organizers will consider whether to offer additional tours on weekends or during the week.

"Hopefully, this will become an established activity," she said.

Tickets for the tour will cost $10, and the proceeds will be split between the museum and the shop, Garman said. The shop's share will go to pay for creating the tickets and other expenses associated with the tours, she said.

"It provides a cultural resource for the citizens and the visitors to our community," she said of the tour. "We hope it will encourage more people to come here when they know this is an activity they can participate in."

"We hope it'll be a nice adjunct to what people can find in downtown Woodstock," Lowerre said.

* Contact Elizabeth Wilkerson at ewilkerson@nvdaily.com