Jefferson museum to open Saturday
May 19—A museum six years in the making will open in Jefferson Saturday, May 20.
The Jefferson Historical Society bought the old Masonic Lodge, also known as Judd Hall, in 2017, Kevin Berner, president of the society said.
"It was a wreck," Berner said.
The organization raised funds applied for and received grants, including a $100,000 grant from the Nicholas J. Juried Family Foundation, he said. The organization made extensive renovations to the building including, replacing the roof, wooden fire escape and windows, pulled up the carpet to reveal a white pine and hemlock plank floor, renovated the kitchen, added a lift to the second floor and an addition for its archives, tore out the lath and plaster and insulated and replaced the walls, added a handicap accessible ramp and sanded the floors, he said.
Berner said the inspiration for the lift was Sally Swantz who was excited about the museum but knew she wouldn't be able to climb the stairs to see it on the second floor. The second-floor museum houses several exhibits.
Along the top of the room, there are photos of all the buildings in the hamlet. There is a handout describing when the house was built, who lived there and/or which businesses were housed in the building.
"In 1900, you could have found virtually every business imaginable along Main Street," Berner said. "There were several millineries, doctors, lawyers, drug stores, restaurant, meat market, general store. You could have bought a car here. There was even a piano and organ store."
Exhibits about the geology of the area, the four newspapers, women business owners, agriculture, the schools and a salute to veterans are also on the second floor.
The corner saluting veterans lists every person who has ties to Jefferson and served during a war.
There were 204 men with Jefferson ties who served in the Union Army during the Civil War, Stephanie Ruquet, a member of the historical society, said. Fifty of those soldiers died during the war, she said. Some died in battle, some died as a prisoner of war, but many died of disease, she said.
That corner of the museum also tells the story of Carl Skidmore, who died in battle 10 days before the end of World War I.
"We have all the letters he sent home and the letters his parents sent him," Berner said.
The historical society also saved the doors to the Masonic lodge which when opened show the history of the Masons and Order of the Eastern Star.
The first floor will be for presentations, including one at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 21, by Berner about his great-grandparents Mary and Clifford Danforth. The Danforths ran a successful dairy farm in Jefferson. On the second floor, the museum displays two butter churns Mary used to make butter. Mary used the rocking butter churn to make the butter she took with her to the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, Berner said. She was awarded a certificate that hangs in the museum. The farm still produces butter under the Cowbella brand, he said.
"Jefferson was known as 'Buttertown,'" Berner said. In 1880 Jefferson farmers produced 313,696 pounds of butter, he said. "This was all done by hand," he said. "The cows were hand milked and the butter was hand churned." The butter was shipped to New York City.
The first floor also has a small gift shop with books and other items for sale.
The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays through Labor Day weekend. In addition to the museum, the historical society rents from the town the Maple Museum and the Fuller District Schoolhouse. The Maple Museum will host a quilt show during Jefferson Heritage Day July 8, and a concert series throughout the summer, Berner said. The schoolhouse will open for the season Saturday, May 27, and will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays through Labor Day.
Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.
