Colchester History Connections Newsletter
August 1, 2012
Colchester Historical Society,
Box 112, Downsville, New York 13755
Volume 2, Issue 2
Preserving the history of Downsville, Corbett, Shinhopple, Horton
and Cooks Falls
Website:www.colchesterhistoricalsociety.org
Historical
Society Room is open the third Saturday of each month 11 A.M.-3 P.M. and
by appointment, please call Kay
Parisi-Hampel, Town Historian at 607-363-7303.
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Displays
Resorts, Hotels,
Lodges and Campgrounds
will be the focus of our first floor Town Hall display until the end of
September. Colchester has
been a tourist destination since the late 1800’s and our popularity grew
with the arrival of the railroads and the development of the State
highway system. Please stop
by to see the history of the Downs House Hotel, the Eagle Hotel and
Round Up Ranch in Downsville; as well as Mountain Lake Hotel and Casino
in Cooks Falls, and smaller venues like Bidgood Cabins in Horton,
Finnerty’s Hotel in Long Flats.
Vintage photographs (like the ones shown below); postcards and
advertising materials will be included in the display. We will also
display the Hotel Register from the Downs House from 1863, which was
donated to our society by Jody Elmore.
Downs House 1908
Eagle Hotel 1947
Round Up Ranch 1949
Mountain Lake Hotel –Cooks Falls 1906
High View Hotel- Cooks Falls 1909
Corbett Bicentennial
Did you
know that Corbett was orginally known as
Campbell Flats?
The Corbett and Stuart Corporation purchased one hundred and
sixty-seven acres of forest and farm land; originally known as the
Daniel Campbell farm but later as the Bryon G. Landfield farm,
in early 1912. They began the construction of one of the largest
acid factory plants in the world.
Along with the factory, Corbett and Stuart would also include the
construction of the mill town which would house its workers, provide a
company store, post-office, telegraph office, school/community center, a
Johnson and Rhodes stone dock, saw mill and a D&N railway station.
The corporation had a close business relationship with the D & N
railroad and maintained three miles of rail sidings at the factory.
When the railway station opened it was named after Merritt J.
Corbett and the Campbell Flats name was changed to Corbett.
To find out more about Corbett, be sure to stop in at Town Hall
beginning in October to view our display on the history of Corbett from
it’s beginnings in 1912 to the close of the factory in 1934, the sale of
the whole town to the Institute On Man and Science in 1976 and its Not
for Profit incorporation in 1977.
If you have
information, photographs, or memories about Corbett that you would be
willing to share, please contact Kay Parisi-Hampel at 607-363-7303 or email:
info@colchesterhistoricalsociety.org
Corbett village early 1920’s Acid factory
Re-organization of Colchester Historical
Society
Members worked diligently through the first part of this year to revise
and update the CHS By-Laws.
The first reading of the revisions took place in March and the final
draft was approved at the June 26, 2012 meeting.
The new By-Laws can be viewed on-line at our website:
www.colchesterhistoricalsociety.org
or you can
pick up a copy at our next meeting.
If you are unable to attend or would like a printed copy please
contact Kay Parisi-Hampel at 607-363-7303.
New
Trustees and Officers Elected
Betty Vernold, Linda Mills, Art
Merrill, Anne Hood and Kay Parisi-Hampel were elected to the Board of
Trustees for a one year term at the June 2012 meeting.
The Board expressed thanks to Stuart Williams and Joyce Townsend
Williams for their years of dedicated service as Trustees and Officers
of the Colchester Historical Society.
Officers for the next year will be:
Arthur Merrill- President, Kay Parisi-Hampel-Vice President,
Betty Vernold-Treasurer and Linda Mills-Secretary.
Members Work
We have met our goals of completing
the By-Laws revision, electing new trustees and officers. We are
continuing to work on our website so check back frequently to see what
is new. Betty Vernold has
completed the Obituary files which hold a large amount of valuable
genealogy information.
Members continue to volunteer for Work Days to catalog, sort and file
information that has been donated on the history of Colchester.
Our next scheduled Work
Day is Wednesday, August 22, 2012 at 10 A.M. at the CHS room in the
basement of Town Hall. If
you are interested in Colchester History this is an interesting and fun
way to discover the treasures in our collection.
Town Historian and CHS member, Kay Parisi-Hampel will be taking an
on-line Collections Management course through Museumwise and paid by a
grant from the South Central Documentary Heritage Program of the New
York State Archives. The
course will cover mission and collecting plans, insurance and museum
laws, security and disaster planning, cataloging and artifact handling
which can be helpful in dealing with real-life issues and problems that
face small historical organizations such as our historical society.
Publication
CHS member, Chris Altmann, has just
published a new book about his hobby of metal detecting.
The book, From the Ground
Up; Adventures in Metal Detecting, has received great reviews as a
very humorous, informative and light read.
Chris will be doing book talks around the area and will speak at
the Middlefield Historical Association on August 12th.
We have invited him to speak here and the date will be announced
in a future newsletter. The book is available for $19.75 from Chris
Altmann at caltmann@aol.com
or calls can be made to his East Meredith number 607-278-6153 to order
your copy.
Meeting schedule:
August 28, 2012 at 7 P.M.
September 25, 2012 at 10 A.M.
October 30, 2012 at 7 P.M.
November 27, 2012 at 10 A.M.
December 18, 2012 at 10 A.M.
Colchester Town Hall—Basement Level-Colchester Historical Society
Room
Questions and requests for information can be emailed to:
info@colchesterhistoricalsociety.org
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