FIVE YEARS ago, when the Museum of Russian Icons opened in a refurbished 19th-century brick courthouse on the green in Clinton, the central Massachusetts town needed the boost. Once the world’s largest producer of gingham cloth and home to both Lancaster Mills and the Bigelow Carpet Company, Clinton, like so many other New England factory towns, had been fading in the decades since the mills shut down. But the museum has helped spur an economic turnaround that should be an inspiration to other cities seeking a way forward from their industrial past.
Today, the museum bills itself as the largest collection of Russian icons in North America, and attracts 16,000 visitors annually, pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into Clinton’s economy. Visitors buy souvenirs and dine in the restaurants along High Street, where Irish and Greek mill workers once ate and drank between shifts. Some visitors stay in local hotels. Many return. The museum has also formed a tourism partnership with other attractions in the area.
