Plans for an addition to the Gilboa Museum
Panel 4: Blending cultural history with natural history
The society had been collecting materials on cultural history and had performances and displays on fashion, quilts, and the like, but did not have sufficient space to adequately display our collection. We hosted a 1920s fashion show in the school and tried to purchase the Ulster and Delaware railroad station in South Gilboa for this type of event. The financial support, however, did not come through.
Subsequently, we looked into the possibility of renovating the Forks-in-the-Road Schoolhouse but found it to be equally beyond our reach — it had no water, plumbing, and electricity with questionable foundation and roof. Reading about the schoolhouse in our newsletters, Nick Juried posed the possibility of moving it to the property near the museum. Coming up for the school reunion, Nick arranged to take a look at the building.
Nick Juried does not have tunnel vision when he sees a need. The weekend after the reunion, Nick and his friend Dottie Pickett broached the possibility to the Historical Society of putting an addition onto the existing museum.
Within days, the society realized the possibility. Society President Linda Newerla contacted Mike Morkaut about acting as a construction supervisor for the society, and set up a meeting in the Town Hall to flesh out plans.
General goals of the plan
Nick’s proposal was that a space similar to the existing building be added on to the northwest corner and perpendicular to the museum, and it also called for a covered porch extending to the west end of the addition. A narrower covered porch would connect to stairs and front door of the museum. In the center of the pictures at the top of this page is the original concept drawing for the exterior of the building.
A committee working with Rena Kosersky developed ideas for the inside of addition. The north wall would be patterned after the bays built into Mountaintop Historical Society in Haines Falls. Each of these would define different topics, displays, or exhibits. To demonstrate this, the committee used a wine carton as a model: the bottom defined the area and the sides represented the walls. Each of the 4 bays had a wall on one side and a set of glass-enclosed shelves holding artifacts on the other. There would be file cabinets and shelved for records in the reference area of the south wall, and a small enclosed area would represent a one room schoolhouse with exhibits, furniture, maps, and free pamphlets of historical documents. The picture on the right at the top of this page is the committee model of the interior. There are four bays on the left, a public research area to the right, and a one-room schoolhouse to the right front.
One overlooked area of planning was the basement. The society planned access by stairs from the Natural Science Room. It would be used for displays of art, crafts, and other rotating displays. In this area, we should have been more specific as to what we wanted and the nature of storage and access.
YOU can help!
We are currently asking for volunteers and content (text and photos) for each of these displays. Please contact Gerry Stoner if you have interesting content for any of these displays, or would like to work on an area of interest to you.
Navigating the Gilboa Historical Society pages
The narrow column on the right has three scroll-down windows (at the end of this window on your phone or pad):
- Current activities of the society.
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We ARE open during daylight hours! SPECIAL TOURS can be set up by calling (607) 652-2665, (607) 588-9413, or (607) 588-6267
MUSEUM IS SEASONALLY OPEN WEEKENDS 12–4:30 pm from Memorial Day through Columbus Day.
GHS Board Meetings
are in the Gilboa Museum on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 1:00.
General Membership Meetings are on the 3rd Wednesday of each month March through December. A short business meeting starts at 6:00; ends at 6:30; and the guest speaker starts at 6:45. Indoors or outside, depending on the weather.
For INDOOR events, please be prepared to wear masks on request and observe distance between strangers.
OUTDOOR events have no Covid-related limitations.
2023 ACTIVITIES
March 2023
02 Family private Tour-on Call
15 At 6 pm, General Membership bus. mtg; refreshments; speaker and topic at 7:pm NYC DEP on new Reservoir Overlook, underground release, and other coming work on the Schoharie Reservoir.
22 Board meeting, 1:00
April 2023
Fundraiser for psychics lecture TBD
04 Franklin School class Tour-on Call
19 At 6 pm, General Membership bus. mtg; refreshments; speaker and topic at 7:pm TBA
26 Board meeting, 1:00
May 2023
04 Family private Tour-on Call and fossil hunt in Schoharie Creek
17 At 6 pm, General Membership bus. mtg; refreshments; speaker and topic at 7:pm TBA
18 G-CCS 5th grade class Tour-on Call
24 Board meeting, 1:00
27 Opening of the regular Gilboa Museum season with a live performance with Reggie Harris
June 2023
10 Gilboafest & Catskill Conquest Rally. Daylong festival, please keep tuned!
21 General Membership meeting, 6 p.m. Shopping Bag Auction, refreshments.
28 Board meeting, 1:00
July 2023
16 19 At 6 pm, Field trip to the C.S. Best House and Medical Museum.
16 Psychic Fair I (Rain Date 7/23)
19 General Membership program: Field trip to Best House, 6 p.m.
22 Artist Clover Archer’s presentation at 1:00 on her genealogical display of the Stryker Family.
26 Board meeting, 1:00
August 2023
16 General Membership meeting, 6 p.m. Ice Cream Social and FisherCats, refreshments by Stewart Shops
23 Board meeting, 1:00
September 2023
10 Psychic Fair II (Rain Date 9/17)
12 Conesville Historical Society private Tour-on Call
20 General Membership meeting, 6 p.m. Canal Street Strings, refreshments
27 Board meeting, 1:00
October 2023
8 End of regular season of open weekends at the Gilboa Museum
11 National Fossil Day
18 At 6 pm, General Membership bus. mtg and election of board members; refreshments; speaker and topic at 7:pm TBA
25 Board meeting, 1:00
November 2023
12 Holiday Fair and Boutique, 11–4:
15 At 6 pm, General Membership bus. mtg; refreshments; speaker and topic at 7:pm TBA
29 Board meeting, 1:00 (5th Wednesday to clear Thanksgiving week)
December 2023
13 At 6 pm, Raffle & Bottle Auction, refreshments (2nd Wednesday to clear pre-Christmas)
27 Board meeting, 1:00 p.m.
Unlinked pages are under construction.√
GHS Facebook page
Gilboa Fossils, a site of the Gilboa Historical Society
A full featured long playing video of the Gilboa Museum by Kristen Wyckoff.
Gilboa Historical Society
GHS Home Page
GHS History
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Our First Decade
Plans for Expansion
History Center Displays I
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History Center South Wall
Cultural & Natural History
Our Tri-County Community
GHS in the 2020s
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GHS Psychic Fair I
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GHS Boutique with Psychics
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Map to the GHS Complex
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Tri-County Historical Views
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GHS YouTube Channel
Gilboa geography in 1915
Valley and Village
Gilboa Valley
Gilboa Village
Retail stores
Retail services
Residences and small farms
Iron bridge area west of creek
Iron bridge area east of creek
Church Hill
Gilboa property database (photos and information on properties searchable by individual, family, or neighborhood) under construction.
Schoharie Reservoir, 1904–
Plans leading to Gilboa Reservoir
Why Gilboa?
Construction Infrastructure
Materials
Stream Control
Shandaken Tunnel
Intake House
Scrubbing the Valley
Dam and berm
Maintenance 1927–2000
Board of Water Supply resources
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Member benefits
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- Gift shop discounts of 10% on all sales.