The Colton, New York Museum - Part 1

The little Adirondack town of Colton, New York sits on the scenic banks of the Raquette River and I drove there one sunny Saturday to see the town museum:

The museum was located in an old house, which was once the parsonage for the Episcopal church which is still right next door. I learned that this house once also served as a temporary school after the main school had a fire. Now it is the town museum:

I signed in, got a bit of local lore from the historian and began my tour in a room devoted to the Colton Fire Department's 100th anniversary. I was most taken, however, by this church pump organ:

And sitting atop the organ was this bit of calendar kitsch from the year 1915, exactly 100 years ago:

I walked slowly around the museum, snapping pictures where I could. It was difficult because the rooms were dark (an old fashioned fuse had blown that morning) and the bright sun was streaming through the windows. Our eyes know how to handle that but cameras have a lot of trouble. I was enthralled by this old kitchen. It seemed to have popped right out of my childhood:

A coffee grinder from Cook's store in Colton, 1923:

An old radio:

An old style telephone. Even I am not old enough to remember these being used:

I was surprised when I saw the bathroom, looking much as it did 50 years ago:

An entire back room was devoted to Adirondack and Raquette River tools, occupations and lore:

This was a frontier town not too long ago and the exhibits in this room illustrated the town's pride in that heritage. There were stuffed animals, birch trees, campfire setups and all manner of Adirondack memorabilia:

And of course snowshoes and mounted fish, both reminders of winters in the forests and fishing on the Raquette River. But there was still more to see, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: