The brothers made clocks there in the late 18th century, before they moved the business to Roxbury, where they became pillars of the emerging American clockmaking industry.

It stands in a rural setting, in the middle of a field that was part of the Willard farm back in the 18th century.

Like other contemporaneous horologists, the Willard family originally divided its life seasonally, between farming and the clock workshop.

For a period in the late 1990s the museum was administered by the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, but soon was turned into an independent foundation again, governed by a board made up of representatives of the Willard family, the founding couple, the local community and some horological experts.

The museum has over 80 Willard clocks, representing the craftsmanship of all the members of the family in the horological trade.