Part 3, The Victorian Era At The Potsdam Museum

I was touring the Potsdam Museum on a rainy day and very much enjoying their display of local items from the Victorian Era. This display case held fans, felt flowers under glass, top hats, shoes, toys and other wondrous reminders of life among Potsdam's upper class in the Victorian Era:

High fashion for a night out on the town:

This plaque explained the origin of the magnificent building now housing the museum. Interestingly, the Potsdam and Canton area seems to have been a hotbed of Universalism at that time and St. Lawrence University was founded as a Universalist school:

There was a child's table adorned with toys:

There was a considerable display of Mercury Glass, which a sign explained was blown double walled and then silvered between the layers with a liquid silvering solution. Then it was sealed. The result was surely beautiful:

Silverware of various types:

I decided that I hadn't taken enough full room photos, so here's a look at the museum from where I stood near the silverware:

And a view of the Victorian Era family setting and formal costumes. You can see by the stained glass that this was once a church:

A silver plated coffee urn from 1880:

And one parting shot of the main floor of the museum. There was a modern research room off to the left and many records up on the balcony:

From the outside, you can see the impressive building which houses the museum. There were three sections - the museum, the Potsdam municipal offices and the library. I wondered if they had all once been part of the Universalist Church property or if some had been added on by the town. There was also a fire station to the left of this photo in a similar but more recent style:

But before I drove away, I turned around and snapped a photo of one of the old Clarkson University buildings. Clarkson now has a large a modern campus several miles down the road and I couldn't tell if these buildings were still used or not. Either way, it was a lovely sight:

Finishing The Driving Tour

I was on a driving tour of two towns near the farm and had visited both Potsdam and Canton, New York. I found both to be beautiful towns with bustling commerce, two universities each and lovely old homes. I'd just left Canton and was on my way back to Potsdam when I passed the main campus of Clarkson University. Well, you know I had to turn around and go see for myself:

I found an impressive campus with a mix of old and new buildings:

This, I guessed, was a dorm and it certainly looked more welcoming than the sky scraper towers we had at Ohio State:

There was a whole group of modern brick structures:

I have been told that Clarkson is renown for its engineering program:

I passed one fine old building on my way back to highway and wondered what it might be. But by then I was becoming tired and anxious to get home, so I didn't drive in to take a closer look:

I did, however, stop briefly to photograph this magnificent old church built of Potsdam Red Sandstone. It was Trinity Episcopal, erected in 1835 and with a 110 foot tower. It is located on an island in the Raquette River:

But then I had to get myself back home and, leaving Potsdam, passed once again through big sky farm country:

 

To my own little farm in the hinterlands:

The dogs were ecstatic to see me and just as ecstatic to see their dog food:

Being November, the sun set early and we settled in for the night. We were to leave for Albany the next morning so bedtime was early: