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The Billiard Table
By Susan Zehnder, Education DirectorIt’s hard to miss the billiard table on display in the Museum in the Bank Gallery’s Mark Twain section. It came from the third floor playroom of the Langdon home on...
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Elmira Clipper Chilled Plow Company
by Erin Doane, CuratorWhen you think about bicycle manufacturers in Chemung County, the first company that usually pops into people’s minds is Eclipse. Not many people think of the Clipper Chilled...
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Frank Hall’s Window to Japan
By Rachel Dworkin, archivistAlthough few today remember his name, an Elmiran named Frank Hall was instrumental in shaping 19th century America’s image of Japan. In 1639, Japan’s ruling shogunate...
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Viewing the Civil War
by Susan Zehnder, Education DirectorHow did Americans experience the Civil War away from the battlefield? Earlier this spring we hosted our annual Civil War Lecture series online. This year’s talks...
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Hotel Rathbun
by Erin Doane, CuratorThe northwest corner of Baldwin and Water Streets in Elmira, where the Chemung Canal Trust Company now sits, was once the site of Hotel Rathbun. In its heyday in the early 1900s,...
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The Optimist Club
By Rachel Dworkin, ArchivistOn the evening of June 22, 1972, the Elmira Pioneers were supposed to play Three Rivers at Dunn Field. Hurricane Agnes had other plans. She rained out the game and then...
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Revisiting Juneteenth
by Susan Zehnder, Education Director(This is an updated repost of something published last year)From WENYJuneteenth is a celebration and things will be even more festive at this year’s Juneteenth...
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Drew "Lefty" Rader
by Susan Zehnder, Education DirectorWouldn’t it be great to travel back in time to find out the missing part of a story? A case in point involves "Lefty" Rader, a local baseball star, whose 1921 foray...
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Orange-Crush: The Delectable Refreshment
by Erin Doane, CuratorFor about 50 years, the world-famous soft drink Orange-Crush was bottled in Chemung County. In 1915, a Californian chemist named Neil C. Ward developed a unique formula for the...
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Jamaica Helps Win the War!
By Rachel Dworkin, ArchivistOn a crisp September morning in 1944, 900 arriving Jamaican workers filled a New York pier with song. None of them had ever been to America before, but all were eager to...
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L. Libbie Adams and her Youthful Enterprise
by Susan Zehnder, Education DirectorOur exhibit Fit to Print, on display until July 31st, showcases printing materials from Chemung County. Although we have nothing (yet!) from a nineteenth century...
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The McCann Boulder
by Erin Doane, CuratorOn January 17, 1881, an enormous boulder was moved from the towpath on the east side of the former Chemung Canal near Latta Brook, down Lake Street, and over to Woodlawn Cemetery...
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Jury Duty
By Rachel Dworkin, archivistThis past week, I was summoned for jury duty. These days, a lot of Americans would prefer to avoid it, but, historically, people have fought hard for the right to sit on a...
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Part of History
by Susan Zehnder, Education DirectorCan you identify this century old artifact from the CCHS collection? It’s one of the objects I asked nine year old students to think about during this year’s Summer...
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Interesting Historical Points in 1922
by Erin Doane, Curator When I was researching my last post here about theMcCann Boulder, I came across an article in the Star-Gazette from 1922 presenting the monument as part of a series of articles...
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Conscientious Objectors
By Rachel Dworkin, archivist On the morning of Monday, April 8, 1946, internees at the Conscientious Objector camp in Big Flats woke to find a flag reading “U.S. Slave Camp” on the flag pole in where...
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Up, Up, and Away
By Susan Zehnder, Education DirectorFor two days in July 1911, thousands of people flocked to Elmira’s Maple Avenue Park. What was it they paid .50 cents to attend, and an additional .25 cents to sit...
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Our Mammoth Tusk
by Erin Doane, CuratorVisitors love the mammoth tusk we have on display here at the Chemung County Historical Society. Multiple people have told me it’s the one thing they remember from a visit to the...
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Dating with Style: 20th Century Housing (Part I)
By Rachel DworkinLike clothing, architecture has fads, trends, and fashions. Some architectural fashions are based on concrete things like available building materials or new techniques, while others...
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Dating With Style: 20th Century Housing (Part II)
by Rachel Dworkin, archivistLike clothing, architecture has fads, trends, and fashions. In previous blogs, I have written about 19th century housing styles, as well as those from the early 20th...
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