Explore The Esperance Village Commons Historical Museum

ESPERANCE- Esperance Historical Society President, Ken Jones, said at the Esperance Commons, “We’ve got a great collection of local history & folklore.” There’s agricultural equipment in the Carriage Barn & great learning opportunities. Highlighting, “It’s all free! If kids want to go on the swing sets or on the rides or have a picnic, we have a park right across the street.” 

Jones & Display Curator, Sandra Farah, have fond memories of attending the Museum when it was a schoolhouse from 1878-1968; Farah used the word “extraordinary” & comparisons to Leave It to Beaver to describe her childhood in the 50s & 60s, & remembers the wonder of finding books by Dr. Seuss on the school’s bookshelf.

Their School Room exhibit houses desks, an 1856 map used to make the atlas they sell, & a photo of Helen R. Montanye’s last 1968 class.

In addition to acquiring Museum items & keeping local history preserved & shared, Jones is writing a book on William North.

William North is prominent in this season’s annual, rotating exhibit of Erie Canal & Lafayette’s Tour Bicentennials. North was the founder of the Village of Esperance, on the 1810 trip to layout the Erie Canal, grew up in Boston during The Boston Tea Party, & had connections to Paul Revere, George Washington, Baron von Steuben, & Alexander Hamilton.

Their Research Library contains collections you can’t find anywhere else; Methodist history, Civil War, stories by local authors & poets, Sheldon Jackson’s personal reports, church records, genealogy, census books, cemetery records, & a Survey from 1729. Also, 300 Kniskern family documents obtained through a NYC auction house thanks to donations, & how to research your house’s history.

Exhibits include Doctor’s, WWI, WWII, & a covered toll bridge model with original & carved pieces from bridge wood. The Museum worked closely with authors Ronald G. Knapp & Terry E. Miller whose book, Theodore Burr and the Bridging of Early America, is available on Amazon featuring a photo of the bridge that stood from 1812-1930 on its cover.

There’s an exhibit & book about The Esperance Witch, whose sign on Route 20 was blessed by real witches during its dedication ceremony.

Their Civil War display case includes history of George Turnbull, Hicky Berg, the Hunter family, & hat molds made to incorporate birds, which were so popular some worried birds would go extinct.

Wonder where “Pop Goes the Weasel” came from? They have one! It’s a tool to measure & spin yarn.

Their Victorian scene from the 1840s was supplied by the grandparents of one of the Museum’s volunteers, Kirt Feuz, & includes a parlor organ used throughout generations.

See Esperance Band memorabilia from the 1800s-early 20s, and from Andy Quick’s Volunteer Fire Department Band. Unfortunately, the band hasn’t met since Covid, which Jones says is, “Really a crime because we were one of the last little places to have our own band up until then;” he hopes to see the band resurge again.

Donations & volunteers make a huge difference. Jones said they aren’t funded by grants & lots of talented people give their time to get a lot done on a small budget. Nick Juried’s donation is to thank for roof work. Their storage shed was given by a member. Laurel Berbach lives in FL; helping each summer. Open Museum hours are overseen by volunteers. Jones expressed the importance of younger generations being interested in volunteering & is looking forward to 4 new volunteers after school finishes. 

Those interested in being added to the Book Buddies volunteer email list to help with cataloging, exhibits, flowers, etc., reach out through The Esperance Historical Museum Facebook page; they meet twice a month.

Every detail tells a story, even bookmarks on their front desk created by community member Roberta Von Hamman, who lived to be 103 (at one time in the apartment above Eastman’s Cheese House). The legacy of one of the founders of the Museum, Dorothy Edwards, contributes today in reel-to-reel interviews with residents from the 70s that will be converted to digital and into a reworked play for their Aug. 23rd event, Old Esperance Memories with Willard Martin. It’ll feature Esperance residents & after, attendees will be invited to the Museum to review their scrapbook collection.

Upcoming Museum events at 123 Church Street include July 13th Family Home Run Day; (all ages) view their baseball exhibit & kids stitch their own felt ball at 1 PM,  Aug. 10th with New Blenheim Bridge site engineer Rick Christman, September 6th Annual Yard Sale, October 11th Soup & a Stroll guided walking tour of Esperance street names with connections to Revolutionary War Veterans, & December 6th Christmas at the Esperance Museum with Christmas exhibits, cocoa, craft sale, & letters to Santa drop-off. 

They’ll bring the Museum to you with hands-on games of What Is It? & prizes at Schoharie Lily Festival on July 12th & with an exhibit featuring the tourist homes & fishing sites of Esperance at the Altamont Fair (August 12th -17th). 

Great for school, homeschool, Historical Society, & family day trips! Head to the Esperance Historical Museum, dubbed one of the most interesting & best small-town museums on Route 20 by the Historic Route 20 Association. Their open season runs Saturdays & Sundays 1 PM - 4 PM Memorial Day – Labor Day. Your journey through time begins with HOPE greeting you when you walk in; the first wall display states ESPERANCE is the French Word for HOPE. 

Follow Esperance Historical Museum on Facebook for updates. They’ll have a new website up soon, then will look into using QR codes or phone numbers to add a self-guided tour element to the Museum. Some of their books are available online at https:// payhip.com/EsperanceHistoricalSociety. 

Attend Esperance Village meetings every 2nd Monday of the month in the Village Meeting Hall at 7:00 PM for ongoing Historical Society updates, & check out next week’s Mountain Eagle for a continuation of this article with more details about the Esperance Commons Carriage Barn & Presbyterian Church.