Calendar

  • May 17

    10am - noon
    Junior Historians
    grades 2-6
    A step back in time - an architectural tour of the southside of Jamestown. Find out about the people who lived in the great houses and worked at some of our most important businesses.
  • May 17

    2 pm & 5pm
    Project Runway 1880
    in the elegant Fenton
    Drawing Room
    See and learn about
    the beautiful and
    interesting formal
    clothing in the
    Fenton textile collection.
    Free for members
    or $10 for non-members.
  • June 6

    Exhibit Opening for
    "In the Good Ole Summer Time"
    Refreshments, music
    and memories - open
    to all members for free,
    non-members - small
    admission fee.
  • June 7

    "In the Good Ole Summer Time" What was it like to
    vacation on
    Chautauqua Lake
    in the golden age
    from 1875 to 1920?
    What was it like
    to work on
    Chautauqua Lake
    serving the vacationers?
    Artifacts, photographs
    and many other interesting pieces of our wonderful history will be on exhibit for the summer.
  • June 14

    7pm
    Red White & Blue
    A Patriotic Tribute to
    our Hometown Heroes.
    The evening will be
    filled with live music
    and local stories about our soldiers from the Civil War, World War I and World War II.
    $15 per person,
    $10 for Fenton members
  • July 19

    Fenton Institute - Our County's Bicentennial The Bicentennial Celebration of Chautauqua County begins in 2008! Join us for an informative time to learn about our earliest history as a County. Noon to 2 PM
    Members at certain levels are free, other levels only $5, non-members $10.
  • July 21-25

    Camp Brown
    A Call to Arms...Life as a Civil War recruit. Students in grades 4-6 will experience the life of a Civil War private preparing to march into history. Limited spaces, 1-4 PM each afternoon, please register early. $50 fee
  • August 4-8

    History Detectives:
    "In the Good Ole Summertime" Grades 1-3. Have fun learning about life around Chautauqua Lake in the golden age of steamboats and trolleys. The week will finish with a field trip to New York State's newest historic park, Midway! Great fun! 9-12 noon each morning, limited space available, please register early, $50 fee.
  • August 9

    4th Annual Old Fashioned Day NEW this year!! A Civil War encampment of living history by the 9th Calvary NY Volunteers! Hopefully with horses, campfires, firearms and a surgeon. Join a basket weaver, spinners, weavers, antique engines, food, fun and much more. More details to come!!
    9 AM to 3 PM
  • August 18-22

    History Detectives:
    "In the Good Ole Summertime"
    Grades 4-6. Fun and learning come together at the Fenton Mansion and Long Point State Park! What was life like around Chautauqua Lake when the trolleys and steamboats were running? What was it like to vacation or work at the #2 vacation spot on the east coast in the last 1800s? Find out at the Fenton History Center Summer Camp. 1-4 each afternoon, limited space available, please register early, $50 fee.

Links

Local History Research Collections in Chautauqua County
Reed Library Special Collections
SUNY College at Fredonia, NY
The local history collection includes materials relating to Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties, especially U.S. census records (complete through 1840, then local only), NYS census for Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties, Senecat Indians and the Iroquois Census Project, county/local histories/directories, supervisor's reports, family history records, newspapers. The archives of the Holland Land Company offer insights into the settlement and development of Western New York. Copying is available.
Dunkirk Historical Museum
Dunkirk, NY
Collections emphasize the history of Dunkirk; its schools, churches, government, business/industry, (especially the Brooks/ALCO locomotive works) and social organizations. These include family history materials, city directories, school yearbooks, local histories, diaries, photographs, and clipping files. Copying is available.
Darwin R. Barker Museum
Fredonia, NY
Collections include the Fredonia Censor (1821-1964), US and NYS census records for Chautauqua County from 1850-1925, index to deaths and marriages in the Censor, cemetery records, photographs, manuscripts, many New England genealogies and resources. The library of the Chautauqua County Genealogical Society is also located here. Copying is available.
Chautauqua County Historical Society
Westfield, NY
2000-volume holdings include: Clayburne Sampson Collection, Elial Foote Papers, Gerald Todd Papers, diaries, family historis, Civil War Muster Rolls by towns, school records, maps, photographs, cemetery transcriptions, and miscellaneous files of county. Copying is available.
Chautauqua County Genealogical Society
Fredonia, NY
Individual dues are $9 per calendar year, and include The Chautuaqua Genealogist, published quarterly. Listings of researchers and current CCGS publications available on request - include SASE. The CCGS library is located at the Darwin R. Barker Museum.
Patterson Library
Westfield, NY
Collections include the Westfield Republican from 1855 and other newspapers, state/county/local histories, Holland Land Company records, DAR lineage books, clipping and reference files, family histories, surname and obiturary files, county cemetery records, county census records, maps and atlases. Copying is available.
Chautauqua Institution Archives
Smith Memorial Library
Chautuaqua, NY
Collections include various newspapers from 1876 to the present, scrapbooks, diaries, autograph books, oral history tapes, video and lecture tapes, photographs, dissertations, historic register of homes, and histories of other Chautauquas. Copying is available.
Chautauqua County Court House
Mayville, NY
Chautauqua County records form 1811 to date. County Clerk's records include: land, naturalization, census (1825-1925), marriage (1908-1935), military discharge, DBA (business certificates), early court records and many unique maps. Finder's guide available. The Surrogate Clerk maintains wills & probate records. Copying is available.
Local History and Culture Links