The Parishville, New York Museum - Part 2

I was touring the Parishville, New York town museum (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and entered the children's bedroom, which contained several cribs, doll carriages, toys and many dolls:

And there was a room filled with high school marching band memorabilia:

And old typewriters:

A sunroom upstairs had many handmade displays such as this one with miniature wooden tools. It had been there so long that the sun had bleached out the signs which explained the tools:

And this being a pioneer town, there were three model log cabins. This one, with a cutaway showing the interior, was my favorite:

Another model log cabin:


And a huge display of old tools:

Woodworking and other tools:

The master bedroom reminded me of my grandmother's bedroom:

This was small town life in the Victorian era:

Even the closet was filled with old clothing:

This old dress was interesting, but what was that tag hanging from it? I moved in for a closeup:

It turned out to not be for the dress, but instead it was directions for using the old dress form:

My final photo at the Parishville Museum was of this hat collection, a reminder of small town life many years ago. I love these town museums, and the Parishville Museum is certainly one of my favorites:

The Parishville, New York Museum - Part 1

Parishville, New York is an old pioneer town and one of the smallest, most scenic towns I've seen anywhere. It has a museum in an old house which is maintained by the Town Historian and open one afternoon per week, two months per year - July and August. I hadn't been there in several years, so I decided to return:

The formal parlor was filled with many things, including a piano. There were two old fashioned church organs elsewhere:

I headed for the door in the side corner of the parlor:

I knew that there was a display of hand carved circus wagons, carved by a former resident of the town (that's his photo on the left):

Teams of hand carved horses pulled the circus wagons. The display appeared to be being moved to another display case so that the room could hold more items:

My next stop was the old fashioned kitchen, a reminder of how life used to be:

A dry sink and numerous utensils:


A display on butter making. The kitchen didn't have much light, so many of the photos were unusable but that may have been a blessing because otherwise I'd have too many to post:


Then I returned to the parlor, where a lot of sorting and rearranging was in progress:

The parlor indicated that a wealthy family once lived here:

 

There was an entire room devoted to old photos. As you can see, more sorting and rearranging was in progress there also:

I went upstairs where this Victorian era doll and carriage caught my attention:

Fans, hats and handmade dolls. Every town museum seems to have a lot of dolls, and it reminds me of how much little girls loved their dolls. They often keep them all their lives, or at least until they donate them to the local museum:

A military room. There was still more to see, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Parishville Bicentennial Parade - Part 1

Parishville is a small, rural town southwest of me and on the St. Regis River. I visited one day so I could see their Bicentennial Parade. I arrived early, so I toured the town center, beginning at this gazebo on the St. Regis:

A country duo was playing "Okie from Muskogee" while three children danced merrily. The little boy seemed to be break dancing:

The local Amvets Post was directly across the street and, though I didn't go in, it sounded as if a lot of drinking was going on inside:

And across from the Amvets Post, the Parishville Fire Department:

A refreshment stand:

And Evil Seed Sauces has labelled two hot sauce varieties in honor of the Parishville bicentennial:

I began walking up the road to position myself for the parade, passing the town hall on my way:

I chose a spot by the town museum:

The parade began with many fire engines and much highway garage equipment. But I really perked up when these gigantic horses trotted by, pulling a wagon load of passengers:

There were more firetrucks and ambulances:

Soldiers marching:

The local Amvets Post sponsored a float. The parade had now begun in earnest and I could see a line of paraders stretching down the road and across the bridge. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

The Parishville Town Museum - Part 3

On the second floor of the museum was an old fashioned bedroom, chock full of old time furniture, quilts and paintings:

I was particularly taken with this old dresser's design, which I found most ingenious. Also, notice the sun bonnet hanging on the bed's headboard:

A woman of a certain era must have looked stylish in basic black:

There was a lot to see:

There were several rooms whose photos didn't turn out well, so I'll skip those. Then I stepped out onto what seemed to me to be a sort of second floor enclosed porch. They had several dollhouses which were log cabins, the type which the first settlers lived in:

This log cabin doll house looked interesting, so I moved closer:

I took a look inside, and indeed it was a furnished log cabin doll house:

A third log cabin doll house was even more elaborately furnished. While dollhouses are not uncommon in museum displays, I've never before seen log cabin versions, much less three of them. Parishville's pioneer history of settling the wilderness is not that far in the past that folks have forgotten:

Shop tools, especially planes:

And a children's room with too many dolls to photograph:

I moved back down the stairs into the elegant foyer and living room:

I thanked the historian and made my departure, snapping a photo of the museum's exterior as I drove away: