|
PUTNAM COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY & FOUNDRY SCHOOL MUSEUM
63 Chestnut St.,
Cold Spring, NY 10516
(845) 265-4010
www.pchs-fsm.org
Wed. - Sun. 11-5.
$5 adults, $2 seniors & children, free for members
Current Exhibit - West Point Foundry: Unearthing the Past, Forging a
Future. Through December 14, 2008
Sat. May 17 - "Let Loose the Dogs of War: New York in the American Civil War", lecture by Dr. Robert Arnold. Free & open to the public. 2pm
Sat. May 31 - Third Annual Family Fun Festival, "Crafts & Cannons, puppeteer, blacksmith demo, 10am-3pm, free
Two Centuries of Industrial History Unearthed at Putnam County Historical Society
Scenic Hudson and Michigan Tech partners in exhibition
Cold Spring resident Mike Armstrong with Rita Shaheen, Scenic Hudson's director of parks looking over the conceptual plan for the West Point Foundry Preserve. More than 80 people were in attendance at the opening of the new exhibit
The full arc of American industrial history, from thriving manufacturing to malign neglect to rediscovery, is on display in a new exhibition which opened on March 30 at the Putnam County Historical Society's Foundry School Museum.
The West Point Foundry: Unearthing the Past, Forging a
Future tells the story of two centuries of industrial innovation and ecological destruction and renewal at Scenic Hudson's West Point Foundry Preserve in the Village of Cold Spring.
The West Point Foundry opened in 1818 and was a pacesetter in America's Industrial Revolution. Best known for supplying the United States government with ordnance, including the Parrott guncannon whose accuracy turned the tide of the Civil Warit
also produced some of the nation's first steam engines, locomotives and ironclad ships. During its heyday, the foundry employed between 500 and 1,500 furnace men, blacksmiths, carpenters, office and machine shop workers, and others. It achieved national, even
worldwide renown. President Abraham Lincoln visited in 1862. Jules Verne immortalized the foundry in his 1865 novel,
From the Earth to the Moon.
After operations ceased in 1911, the site fell into disuse, the foundry buildings gradually were demolished, and the forest reclaimed the site, which also became a dumping ground and victim of industrial contamination. The worst pollution occurred at Foundry
Cove, where from the 1950s through the 1970s, a battery factory spewed up to 200,000 gallons of nickel and cadmium into the water daily. The Environmental Protection Agency mounted a $100 million cleanup and restoration under the Superfund law in the 1990s.
The property, which had been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, was acquired by Scenic Hudson, a pioneer in environmental preservation and restoration long active in the Hudson River Valley, in 1996. Scenic Hudson has sponsored
research at the site by faculty and students from Michigan Technological University's Industrial Archaeology Program since 2001.
Organized and funded by Scenic Hudson and Michigan Tech as well as the Putnam County Historical Society (PCHS), the exhibition uses Michigan Tech's discoveries to explore the three stages of the history of the foundry site. Displays on three original
buildings highlight major aspects of the foundry's operations and its workers' lives: the boring mill, casting shop, and East Bank House. Photographs and other materials illustrate the neglect and contamination of the site during much of the 20th century and its renovation
and renewal since 1992. Scenic Hudson's plans for a $3.5-million "outdoor museum" that explains the foundry's groundbreaking contribution to American industry as well as the land's ecological rebirth are also on view.
The exhibition includes archaeological artifacts and interactive displays. Since the West Point Foundry Preserve is a short walk from the museum and open to the public, visitors can easily take in the exhibition and visit its source.
Additional funding for the exhibition, which continues through December 14, was provided by Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, Kearney Realty Group and Stearns & Wheler, LLC, environmental engineers. Storage for the West Point Foundry
Collection is provided by the Village of Cold Spring.
PCHS's Foundry School Museum, located at 63 Chestnut Street in Cold Spring, is open Thursday-Sunday, 11am to 5pm. Admission is free for members and children under seven, $5 for non-members, and $2 for seniors.
Putnam County Historical Society Donates Ludington Store Contents To Kent Historical Society
Katherine Doherty, Supervisor of the Town of Kent, and Richard Othmer, President of the Kent Historical Society
The Putnam County Historical Society (PCHS) has donated the surviving interior furnishings and contents from a 19th Century retail store in Kent, New York, to the Kent Historical Society. PCHS has owned and cared for the contents of the Ludington store,
which stood on Ludingtonville Road near what is now Interstate 84, since the building that housed them was razed in the 1960s.
"Fortunately, we could help save the contents of the Ludington store 40 years ago and now we can help give them a permanent home in their original home town," said Mindy Krazmien, PCHS executive director. "The donation will also free up storage and
other resources for the PCHS collection."
"The Town of Kent is grateful to the Putnam County Historical Society for their foresight in saving the store furnishings and contents and their generosity in giving them to the people of Kent. It's the best Christmas present ever," said Richard Othmer, Kent
Town Historian. Newly elected supervisor, Katherine Doherty, and the Town of Kent Board passed a formal resolution promising to protect and preserve the Ludington Store donations in perpetuity for future generations.
As the custodian of the original store site for the Town of Kent, the Kent Historical Society will reopen the Ludington General Store as a museum, period general store, and farmer's agricultural market. County Executive Robert J. Bondi and Deputy County
Executive John Tully have supported the project financially and administratively.
The Ludington Store dates from the early 1800s and was owned by Colonel Henry Ludington who also owned a nearby mill. Ludington was the father of Sybil Ludington, Putnam County's female Paul Revere. She became famous during the Revolutionary
War for her ride to bring out her father's regiment to repel the British who were burning Danbury.
The donated contents include a variety of dry goods; numerous containers, barrels and bottles; shelving and display racks and cases; and mailboxes and other materials from the post office housed in the store. Prior to the renovation of the Foundry School
Musuem, PCHS had devoted a room to an installation of the Ludington Store materials, which were used in educational programs. The materials have been in storage for the last three
years.
Link to another
web site for the PCHS&FSM
Return
to Cultural Organizations Page
|
