November 2010

The Columbia County Historical Society is the custodian of four historic buildings, more than 7,500 objects and a distinguished research library, spanning four centuries of the county's history. The objects on display were chosen to give an indication of the unexpected breadth, variety, and charm of the society's holdings. This exhibition is the first step in raising awareness of the richness of the collections, while making more material accessible to the public. To help achieve its mission, the society owns, maintains, and interprets collections and buildings of historical significance, and it operates a museum that includes exhibition galleries and an extensive research library.

The Clinton Historical Society was located over the Kirkland Town Library in rented quarters in 1962. Meetings were held there, and it is where the society's collection was partially stored. The CHS moved to a new location in 1994. Using bequeathed and donated funds to remodel its new location at One Fountain Street, the society turned the former Clinton Baptist Church into what it is today. Now, a library has been set up, artifacts are on permanent display on the lower level, storage facilities have been built, and 100 chairs for meetings were donated by the School Town Questers group.

The museum has a Main Street exhibit which contains recreations of a dozen stores from turn-of-the-century Thermopolis. The displays are almost entirely made up of artifacts from actual period Thermopolis businesses. The museum also houses the bar from the Hole-in-the-Wall Bar, a favorite haunt of Wyoming outlaws and supposedly named after the hideout of Butch Cassidy and his Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. Thermopolis was the nearest town to many outlaw hideaways, including Hole-in-the-Wall. The museum also displays remnants of the coal industry that created boom towns in the beginning of the 20th century.

It also has a sizable collection of Native American artifacts, including a collection of tools such as arrowheads and knives, and two elk hide paintings.

The Fremont County Pioneer Museum tells the story of the first settlers to the Freemont County area. Of interest are period pieces, photographs, and other memorabilia. The museum also provides information on the areas first families and subsequent generations.

It also has an archival collection of documents, photographs, and research books.

The museum contains collections of artifacts from Union Pacific Railroad which runs through the county, and the pioneers and outlaws who travelled the region decades before the tracks were laid.

It also has collections from important Wyoming residents, such as Verna Keays, designer of the state flag. It also has the only exhibit of Thomas Edison artifacts in the state. Edison, along with other scientists, visited Rawlins to study the lunar eclipse.

The museum contains collections of rifles, saddles, Native American artifacts, fossils, quilts, and other memorabilia. Much of the collection is used to illustrate the life of a homesteader or rancher in early twentieth century Wyoming. These objects include everything from kerosene stoves to rifles to sheep wagons. The museum also has a fine collection of objects related to the early history of urban life in Gillette including early office equipment, mercantile items, and objects from Gillette's earliest hotels. A growing segment of the Rockpile Museum collection is devoted to the energy production so vital to the area's economy. Objects related to the coal, gas, and oil industries can all be found in the museum.

The Rockpile Museum also has a fine archeological collection as well as some anthropological artifacts and natural history specimens. The museum displays hundreds of Native American spearpoints and arrowheads. It also houses a growing archival collection that includes photographs, newspapers, legal documents, and miscellaneous documents.

The society’s mission is to collect and display items of history in order to promote a better understanding of our area for present and future generations. It plan on fulfilling this mission by maintaining a strong historical society so that with a central museum and active website this history may be available on a regular basis to the general public. By gathering and preserving significant artifacts, documents, and photographs, the society may thereby provide a reservoir of information to help illustrate that history.

The Chemung County Historical Society seeks to deepen our audiences understanding of the past and the role of history in our futures. To achieve this the society uses diverse and evolving collections to engage audiences through interactive and dynamic exhibits and educational programs, community outreach and partnerships, publications, and research services.

Located in the 1865 Victorian Delong House, the museum focuses on the history of Glens Falls and the southern Adirondacks. The Stoddard Gallery, one of the largest in the country, contains approximately 3,000 photographs by Seneca Ray Stoddard of Adirondack landscapes and communities.

The museum was started in 1968 when Juliet Chapman gave her home, the DeLong House, to the community to be a local museum. In the 1980s the museum added gallery space and collections storage by acquiring and renovating a nearby carriage barn and a decade later completed the current facility with the addition of a museum shop, classroom space and accessible lobby.

Besides viewing exhibits and ships, creative use of the park has spanned an incredibly wide range. It doesn't matter whether it's a small intimate gathering or an event for 400 guests.