Mabee Farm Historic Site | |
Location | S of Rotterdam Junction on NY 5S, Rotterdam Junction, New York |
---|---|
Coordinates | 42°51′56″N74°1′56″W / 42.86556°N 74.03222°W Coordinates: 42°51′56″N74°1′56″W / 42.86556°N 74.03222°W |
Area | 9.6 acres (3.9 ha) |
Built | 1705 |
NRHP reference No. | 78001907 [1] |
Added to NRHP | May 22, 1978 |
The Mabee House, on the grounds of the Mabee Farm Historic Site, (part of the Schenectady County Historical Society), is the oldest house still standing in the Mohawk Valley. It is located in the town of Rotterdam, New York, in the hamlet of Rotterdam Junction, New York, along New York State Highway 5S, about six miles (9.7 km) west of the city of Schenectady.
The property includes the original 1705 stone Mabee House, a 1760s brick house, a 1790s inn, a family cemetery and more, sits alongside the banks of the Mohawk River and was donated to the Schenectady County Historical Society on January 29, 1993. An H-bent frame Dutch barn, dating from the 1760s, was acquired from the Nilsen family in 1997, moved from Johnstown, N.Y., restored, and re-installed at the Mabee Farm Historic Site. Various educational programs and events are now offered to the public there. In 2007, 27 acres were purchased from a neighboring property and are now the location of the George E. Franchere Education Center, which opened in 2011.
The property was first acquired by Daniel Janse Van Antwerpen in 1671. He purchased the property from the Mohawks and received a grant for the patent in 1680 from the English Governor Edmund Andros. Van Antwerpen, a friend, mentor, and neighbor of Jan Pieterse Mabee and wife Anna Borsboom in the Schenectady's Stockade Historic District, sold the westerly half of the farm property to Jan in 1705/6. [2] The original deed was given to the Schenectady County Historical Society along with 582 other documents and over 1,000 artifacts. The original structures on the farm are the stone house, a frame pre-Erie Canal inn, in which Revolutionary War General Philip Schuyler stayed in 1792 while surveying for the Western Inland Navigation and Lock Company, and the half brick house. The farm's original barns, however, were consumed by fire in the 1870s and 1970s. There is also a family cemetery, which has 21 headstones dating from 1771, and a marker honoring the enslaved people owned by the Mabee family, who lived, worked, and died at the site. [3]
George Franchere, the last descendant of that particular Mabee line to own the House and property, donated the site to the Schenectady County Historical Society in 1993, with the intention that it would be maintained as a museum and educational center. [4] To that end, numerous family members, staff, and volunteers have worked to preserve the property and its donated artifacts, and to develop educational programs and events that present the history of the family, farming, Schenectady County and the Mohawk Valley to visitors.
The Jan Mabee and Anna Borsboom House, Brick building, and Inn, on the 9 acres (36,000 m2) of property in Rotterdam Junction, NY were given to the Schenectady County Historical Society by George E. Franchere in 1993, 11 years before he died. In 1996, the Historical Society applied for a matching-funds grant to restore the house, but the grant was denied; the members instead planned a private fundraising campaign. [5] In addition to the west part of the House, which dendrochronology done at Cornell University dates to approximately 1705, making it the oldest known unaltered structure standing in the Mohawk Valley, the site now contains the 1760s Nilsen Dutch Barn, a smaller English barn, and several small outbuildings.
In 2007 the Historical Society acquired 27 acres (110,000 m2) of property adjacent to the site from Schenectady County to construct the George Eugene Franchere Education Center, a three-level 13,000 sq ft (1,200 m2) structure which, completed in 2011, now allows the site to operate year-round. The Franchere Center provides space for rotating history and art exhibits, a 150-seat lecture hall, a conference room, gift shop, and also artifact storage, offices for staff, and work space for interns and volunteers. The building also features geothermal pumps which are powered by the solar panels atop the picnic pavilion. [6] Additionally, in 2009 the Historical Society acquired 9 acres from NY State Canal Corporation across (north side) the Mohawk river, to protect its historic viewshed.
The site borders the south side of Mohawk River (now also the New York State Barge Canal), and the Farm's dock serves as the home base for two bateaux, the De Sager and the Bobbie G, specially constructed by the Alplaus Maritime Academy for the Mabee Farm. The Onrust was built here from 2006 to 2009 in time for the Quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's voyage to what became New Netherland.
The Mabee Farm Historic Site is open year-round to visitors for guided tours through the historic structures, and/or for self-guided visits through the exhibits on display in the Franchere Center. The site welcomes over 15,000 annually. [7]
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New York, near the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers. It is in the same metropolitan area as the state capital, Albany, which is about 15 miles (24 km) southeast.
Schenectady County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,061. The county seat is Schenectady. The name is from a Mohawk language word meaning "on the other side of the pine lands," a term that originally applied to Albany.
Pattersonville-Rotterdam Junction was a census-designated place (CDP) in Schenectady County, New York, United States. The population was 918 at the 2000 census. The area was not delineated as a CDP for the 2010 census.
Rotterdam is a town in Schenectady County, New York, United States. The population was 30,523 at the 2020 census.
Vale Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery and the largest cemetery in Schenectady, New York. It opened on 21 October 1857 when the Rev. Julius Seely dedicated what was then termed "the Vale". It has tripled its size since opening and today it holds the remains of some of the most notable persons in Upstate New York. In 1973, a 35-acre tract of unused and abandoned cemetery land around the ponds of Cowhorn Creek was sold to the city of Schenectady to form Vale Park.
The Onrust was a Dutch ship built by Adriaen Block and the crew of the Tyger, which had been destroyed by fire in the winter of 1613. The Onrust was the first ship to be built in what is now New York State, and the first fur trading vessel built in America. The construction took four months in the winter of 1614 somewhere in New York Bay. Help from the local Native population is surmised based on the relationship developed by Jon Rodriquez, left on the island during a previous voyage. The Onrust was 44.5 feet long and capable of carrying 16 tons.
Trimborn Farm is a Victorian era estate located in Greendale, Wisconsin and owned by Milwaukee County. Spanning 7.5 acres and nine buildings, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The farm is also a State Historic Site and designated Milwaukee County Landmark.
Verdoy, formerly known as Watervliet Center, is a hamlet of the town of Colonie in Albany County, New York, United States. Much of Verdoy is in the Airport Noise Overlay District due to its immediate proximity to Albany International Airport's main north/south runway, which was recently extended by 1,300 feet to the north, moving it even closer to Verdoy. The former Troy & Schenectady Branch of the New York Central Railroad runs along Verdoy's northern border with the Mohawk River; it is now part of the Mohawk Hudson Hike/Bike Trail.
Archibald Ladley Linn was a U.S. Representative from New York.
The Garfield Farm and Inn Museum is a Registered Historic Place in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The property is a 375-acre (1.52 km2) farmstead, centered on an inn that served teamsters and the nearby community during the 1840s. It is currently a museum offering a variety of educational and entertainment events. The buildings that remain are three original 1840s structures, including the 1842 hay and grain barn, the 1849 horse barn, and the 1846 inn. Various other barns and outbuildings also stand, the last dated to 1906.
The Voorlezer's House is a historic clapboard frame house in Historic Richmond Town in Staten Island, New York. It is widely believed to be the oldest known schoolhouse in what is now the United States, although the sole inhabitant to hold the title of voorlezer, Hendrick Kroesen, only lived on the property from 1696 until 1701. The present structure became a private residence for more than a century and is now owned and operated by the Staten Island Historical Society. Despite being traditionally dated to before 1696 and sitting on land patented in 1680, it is more likely to have been constructed in the mid-eighteenth century, probably in the 1760s by Jacob Rezeau, whose family came into possession of the property in 1705.
Mohawk Upper Castle Historic District is a historic district in Herkimer County, New York that was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1993. Located south of the Mohawk River, it includes the Indian Castle Church, built in 1769 by Sir William Johnson, British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, as a missionary church for the Mohawk in the western part of their territory; the Brant Family Barn, a rare surviving example of Dutch colonial barns in the Mohawk Valley; as well as important archaeological site areas revealing life in Nowadaga, as the western part of the Mohawk village of Canajoharie was known. The fortified village was called the Upper Castle by European colonists.
The Milwaukee County Historical Society, also known as MCHS, is a local historical society in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Founded in 1935, the organization was formed to preserve, collect, recognize, and make available materials related to Milwaukee County history. It is located in downtown Milwaukee in the former Second Ward Savings Bank building.
Fort Hunter is a hamlet in the Town of Florida in Montgomery County, New York, United States, west of the capital at Albany, on the south bank of the Mohawk River and on the northeast bank of Schoharie Creek.
Historic preservation in New York is activity undertaken to conserve forests, buildings, ships, sacred Indian burial grounds, water purity and other objects of cultural importance in New York in ways that allow them to communicate meaningfully about past practices, events, and people. Governmental programs for historic preservation range from Federal ownership and active operation of sites to grants and subsidies provided by state government, municipal support of museums and interpretative displays. Nonprofit programs include activities of statewide and local historical associations and museums, and activities of historical societies and museums at the national level. Quasi-governmental organizations, such as the New York State Thruway Authority and Thousand Islands Bridge Authority, play a role as well. Private endeavors, such as investment and other choices made by private landowners to conserve historical features of their properties, are significant but less visible and include groups such as the Historic Districts Council, The New York Landmarks Conservancy and the Preservation League of New York State. During the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site in July 2010, a team of archaeologists discovered a 32-foot-long boat. The craft was at least 200 years old, dating from a time when the Hudson River was partly filled with trash and debris because of a rapidly expanding lower Manhattan.
The Schenectady County Historical Society, located in Schenectady, New York, was established on July 14, 1905, under the Membership Corporation Laws of the State of New York. The Society is an independent not-for-profit corporation, not a unit of government. Today, the Schenectady County Historical Society brings to life the region’s history through exhibits, talks, workshops, concerts, programs and community events at their three sites: Mabee Farm Historic Site, the Grems-Doolittle Library and the Schenectady History Museum, and the historic Brouwer House Creative. The Society's stated mission is to "share stories, inspire dialogue, and encourage understanding of the history, people, and cultures of Schenectady County." The Society's vision is to "strengthen our community as an increasingly vital destination and resource for exploring history."
Gilfillan Farm is located at the junction of Washington and Orr roads in Upper St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a working farm whose current form dates to the mid-19th century.
Dellemont–Wemple Farm is a historic farm complex located at Rotterdam in Schenectady County, New York. The complex consists of the farmhouse, Dutch barn, chicken house, and family cemetery. The brick, gambrel roofed Dutch style farmhouse was built about 1790 and sits on a stone foundation. The wood Dutch barn was built about 1770, or earlier.
Squire Cheyney Farm is a historic farm and national historic district located in Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The district encompasses two contributing buildings, three contributing sites, one contributing structure, and contributing object. They are the farmhouse, barn, ruins of a granary, remains of an ice house, a spring house (1799), stone retaining wall, and family cemetery. The house was built in four periods, with the oldest dated to about 1797. The oldest section is a 2 1/s-story, three bay, stuccoed stone structure with a gable roof. The additions were built about 1815, about 1830, and about 1850, making it a seven-bay-wide dwelling. It is "L"-shaped and has a slate gable roof. During the American Revolution, Thomas "Squire" Cheyney [II] informed General George Washington during the Battle of Brandywine that the British were flanking him to the north. He was later appointed to the Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention to ratify the United States Constitution. The site is now a township park known as Squire Cheyney Farm Park.
Joslin Farm is a historic farm property at 1661 East Warren Road in Waitsfield, Vermont. First developed c. 1830, the farm is home to one of Vermont's shrinking number of round barns. Now used as a bed and breakfast called The Inn at the Round Barn, the farm property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
2. Mabee Family Papers