Hopkinton NY Field Days - Part 1

If you are driving along Route 11B and pass this shady town green, you may stop and have a picnic there. It's an inviting place indeed, and where I parked in order to watch the 2018 Hopkinton Field Days Parade. The big sign on the left announces the town's 200th anniversary. Unfortunately, that was in 2002, so it's time to replace it. The smaller sign commemorates the raid of 1814, when British troops seized 300 barrels of flour which were stored in the barns of Col. Hopkins:

I walked across the highway and found a comfortable lawn with shade. From there I could see Wilber's Hardware Store, a handy place to find nearly anything you need when something breaks:

And a historic house, one of the original homes from the early settlers. Of course it's been updated in the years since:


And then the parade began with the American Legion:

They were followed by fire trucks and ambulances from many surrounding towns and hamlets. The first was from Hopkinton itself (Fort Jackson is part of Hopkinton):

Parishville, NY:

And this was a mystery. I think the sign read, "I'm the future dentist." I don't know what it meant either:

And then the fire trucks continued, this one from Nicholville:

And from Morley:

And this float, a taste of chilly winter on that hot day. Their tee shirts said "Polar Blast" and they were passing out bottles of cold water:

And the fire trucks continued. This one was from North Lawrence, home of the yogurt factory:

And from Lawrenceville. There were sure a lot of fire trucks, but I deemed that a good thing, a sign that all the local communities supported each other. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Hopkinton, New York Town Museum - Part 1

It was raining and the weather service predicted only more of the same throughout the day. Besides, the Hopkinton Town Museum is only open two hours per day, one day per week, two months per year. If I was going to see it again, this was the time. So I drove to the quiet village green and parked:

The Museum is most of this red building, including the wing on the right and the small shed on the left, with a small section in the middle for the library. I entered by means of the ramp to get out of the rain as soon as possible:

I began in the dining room:

And looked at all the china and tea servers which local folks had held onto for many years, eventually donating them to the museum:

The parlor was warm and friendly - and a bit formal, I thought, for a frontier town:

There were interesting items and signs here and there:

All in all, a pleasant place to spend part of a rainy Saturday:

This ancient piano was recently tuned and one of only two on public display:

Collections of jewelry, books, odds and ends:

Clothing and dolls from days gone by:

The museum was a mixture of time periods but many small signs helped me place the articles in proper perspective or, in some cases, understand what they were:

This quilt depicted scenes from the town's past and was put together on Hopkinton's 200th anniversary:

This dress didn't look too terribly old to me, but then I myself am so old that my perspective is skewed:

A magnificent pump organ:

And a marble mantle clock. But there was still more to see and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Town Of Hopkinton Historical Tour - Part 1

The first recorded settlers arrived in what is now Hopkinton, New York around 1802. The town was first organized in 1805 and is one of the original ten towns of St. Lawrence County. In February 1814 (during the War Of 1812), the British troops raided Hopkinton, seizing 300 barrels of flour which were stored for the U.S. Government in the barn of Col. Hopkins, for whom the town was later named. This tour of historic places in the town was written and printed by Mary Converse, Hopkinton Town Historian, and I followed the booklet to the sites and used her descriptions in my captions for the photos. Many of the buildings had been modernized, some were abandoned, but all had interesting historical notes:

The Hopkinton Village School. Now the fire station, the original part of this building was built in 1869 at a cost of $3500 and was used for grades one through six until 1952. In 1954 it was purchased  by the Hopkinton-Ft. Jackson Fire Department and Ladies' Auxiliary:

This house has long been an important part of the town. Dr. James Q. Flood had his office in the room off the kitchen with a separate entrance on the right back corner. In the same room, Marion Hopkins had her church meetings and parties. Edith Regan had the Post Office in this room from 1945 to 1946. Erwin Zahler had the Town Justice offices there for twenty years and his wife, Margaret, had the Town Clerk's offices there for four years. Margaret still lives in this house:

King S. Chittenden had this house built by the Brush brothers around 1865. Jason Brush was married to King's sister, Olivia. King and his brother, Varick, were co-owner's of Chittenden's Store after their father retired:

The Clark S. Chittenden home was built in 1840. He was the founder of Chittenden's Store, Town Supervisor for seven years and was a member of the State Legislature. The Chittenden family has been been in Hopkinton for 181 years but no longer lives in this house:


The former Chittenden's Store, mentioned several times above, has been an active business in Hopkinton since 1821. The current building was built in 1927 after the original store was destroyed by fire. The store was restored by Jerome Wilber who currently operates it as a hardware store:

Murphy's Inn, directly across the road from Chittenden's Store, was originally used for a wheelwright, cabinet and shoe shop, store and school house. Mr. Howe remodeled the building into a Hotel. Cornelius Murphy bought it and it was called Murphy's Inn for many years. It was a stage coach stop for the Port Kent to Hopkinton coach run. It is now a private residence:

This home was built by Thaddeus Laughlin in 1814 and operated as a hotel for many years. The front west (right side) room was used as a bar room. At one time there was a fireplace with a swinging crane, bake oven and boiler arch in this house. Thaddeus and his father, Henry Laughlin, came from Bristol, Vt. in 1804 and built a log hotel nearby. Thaddeus Laughlin was appointed Hopkinton's first Postmaster in 1808 and served for several years as Town Supervisor:

The Hopkinton Village Green is on land given to the town in 1808 by Roswell Hopkins. The deed reads that the land is "for the inhabitants of the town, to be used for public green and for no other use whatever." The Hopkinton Village Green is on the National Register of Historic Places:

The Hopkinton Town Hall was erected in 1870 at a cost of $4,093.12, replacing the Old Stone Schoolhouse, Hopkinton's first public building built on this same site in 1815. It was remodeled in 1958. The Hopkinton Town Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places:

The Congregational Church, founded in 1808, was originally called the Church of Christ of Hopkinton. The first church building was built in 1828 and burned in 1891. The present building was built in 1892 at a cost of $6000. The Congregational Church is on the National Register of Historic Places:

The Hopkinton Historical Group Museum. The back part of this house was built in 1817 by Samuel Wilson and now houses the Town Library. The front part of the house was built 1838-1839 by Zoraster Culver. Both Mr. Wilson and Mr. Culver kept stores at this location. The building was purchased in 1985 to be used as a museum:

The Sprague house. Dr. Sprague came to town in 1811 and was the second physician to settle here. He acquired this lot in 1814 and either built or moved into this house in that year. He remained in Hopkinton until his death in 1859. Some of the flour seized by the British in the raid of 1814 was stored in a barn which stood on this property:

The Goodnow house was built between 1822 and 1834 by Bushnell Moore, who also built the first tannery in Hopkinton, where Nathaniel Goodnow learned the trade of tannery. The original burying ground of the pioneers was located behind this house and the house next door. The graves were later moved to the present Hopkinton-Ft. Jackson Cemetery during the 1840s:

A Trip To The Hopkinton Town Museum

I got to thinking that it had been several years since I'd seen the Hopkinton Town Museum and August was the month when it was open, albeit for only a few hours. So I searched the internet for the schedule and found none. I began making phone calls and found the president of the Historical Society who said it was open for two hours that very day, though he couldn't guarantee it because the volunteers had forgotten to open up the previous two Saturdays. So I drove down to the lovely, shady village green:

I parked, and walked over to the museum building:

Inside, they had a very old and beautiful pump organ:

Various mannequins, dressed in period clothing:

A comfortable parlor from a bygone era:

I climbed the stairs and found lots of quilts:

The signature or friendship quilt, with all the people's names, was especially interesting. I could only guess what the "$1.60 amt" meant. Perhaps it was a fund raiser, and these people had donated $1.60 each, a lot of money back in the day:

And just when was "back in the day?" Another panel on that same friendship quilt told the story. It was stitched in 1902:

There was an entire room devoted to old fashioned school houses:

And a bedroom, complete with a set of "woolies" long underwear, hanging on the footboard:

Downstairs in the kitchen, this wonderful cupboard intrigued me. I've searched the internet for exactly what to call it, but "cupboard" is all I could come up with. Any ideas?:

The kitchen, of course, had a great wood stove. There were two other outbuildings which I'd visited last time, but the volunteer had no keys. So I thanked her for her kindness and returned home. I am glad that so many towns are preserving bits of their history. Perhaps there is hope for the human race yet: