RARE SILENT FILM FOOTAGE FEATURES SCHOHARIE RESERVOIR CONSTRUCTION AND LAST DAYS OF GILBOA VILLAGE

GILBOA—The Gilboa Historical Society is pleased to announce a new exhibit, NYC Needs Water, Upstate Village Sacrificed that features rare footage of the Schoharie Reservoir construction and the last days of Gilboa Village.

This rare footage is the outtake material from two filmings in 1923 and 1925 by Fox cameramen for a prospective silent Fox News program. Found in the Moving Image Research Collection at the University of South Carolina, the archival footage provides us with the only known moving images of Gilboa Village and the construction of the Schoharie Reservoir.

The original silent Fox Newsreel, if completed and released, has been lost. But this surviving outtake footage licensed by the Gilboa Historical Society, has been edited and scored to resemble what that 1925 silent newsreel might have been.

Gilboa Historical Society Board Member Lee Hudson secured funding for the newsreel project from the Nicholas J. Juried Foundation before forming a production team of Brett Barry of Silver Hollow Audio and Tony Coretto of Ars Coralis, an exceptional choral music organization based in Woodstock.

Drawing from the outtake footage, the team created a six-minute newsreel in the silent era style. A short introduction was added to familiarize viewers with the silent newsreel format and Gilboa history during the village evacuation. 

This unique newsreel and introduction can be kiosk-viewed as part of a larger display describing these newsreels and Gilboa’s participation in the emerging silent film industry.

The exhibit and newsreel can be seen during regular museum hours every weekend thru October 14.

A special showing of the newsreel followed by a Panel Discussion: “Making History” is scheduled for Saturday July 27, 1pm at the Museum. The panel participants are:

Brett Barry, Producer, Silver Hollow Audio

Tony Coretto, Musician/Composer

Diane Galusha, Pres., Middletown Historical Society; author, Liquid Assets: A History of  NYC’s Water System

Lee Hudson, Researcher/Script, Gilboa Historical Society

Exhibit open on weekends through October 14th; 12pm-4pm. No admission charge. Gilboa Museum, Nicholas J. Juried History Center, 122 Stryker Road, Gilboa NY 12076     Call for info:  or tour by appointment, 607-588-6894.