The Town Historian’s office on Whig Street in Newark Valley preserves paper artifacts of their history in a climate-controlled, handicapped-accessible building which has become too small. As they add materials, they have filled the space, cabinets and shelves.
They are extremely pleased to announce the Community Foundation for South Central New York has granted them $5,000 through the generosity of the Dick and Marion Meltzer Fund.
The Town has allocated an 18 x 28 foot area adjacent to the present office. They have provided funds for building materials for construction of insulated walls and ceiling, the doorway joining the two areas, and a fire door. A generous volunteer will do the labor on this. This grant will enable them to complete this room with funds for labor and materials for electric, for heating/air-conditioning connections, and for paint. Having this additional space will allow researchers and historians to have easier access to materials and enough table space to work.
Along with annual scrapbooks required of the Historian, they store hundreds of photographs and newspapers. They house alumni and school records, yearbooks, diaries, ledgers, recordings, slides and glass negatives, locally authored books, and an extensive postcard collection. Special interest notebooks contain obituaries, National Register buildings, and local oral histories. Vertical files contain histories and artifacts of local businesses and community events, and a large genealogy collection.
At the completion of this project, they will welcome the community to an open house to see the wonderful collections that they offer for your use.
