The Catskill Chronicle

Pictured above are – Top row (l to r) Max Fiedle, Don Hasbrouck, Frank Delozier, Philip Coombe III, Jim Garigliano, Lee Osterhout and Jim McCarthy. Bottom row (l to ) Mike Mickleson, Richard Coombe, Chris Mickleson, Out of Town Volunteer, Mort Delozier, Mike Mickleson and Philip Coombe.

GRAHAMSVILLE, NY – A joint project between the Time and the Valleys Museum and the Daniel Pierce Library has proved that people can move mountains – or at least houses! On July 3^rd dozens of hard working dedicated volunteers joined together to move an old farmhouse located on St. Rt. 55 in Grahamsville up a hill and then behind the recently built addition of the Daniel Pierce Library.

This move began as a vision of the Time and the Valleys Museum to create an outdoor Museum Village to complement the Museum’s exhibitions, to be located in a three floor wing of the Daniel Pierce Library. The first of several buildings to be moved behind the library, the other buildings include a sap house, blacksmith shop and outhouse. An old barn that was donated to the Museum was taken apart board by board, and is now in storage waiting to be restored at its home on the hill.

In an age when good homes are routinely torn down to make room for progress, this one hundred year old house in Grahamsville will live to see another day. The Arnold and Marion Robinson home was slated for demolition and located right next door to the newly expanded Daniel Pierce Library, which needed a parking lot. The Time and the Valleys Museum had plans for a museum village to be located on the hill behind the new building project.

Phil Coombe, Jr. chairperson of the entire building project, came up with a “what if” scenario. What if the building could be moved up the hill? Could it be part of the Museum Village?

This past Saturday, a determined crew of volunteers headed up by Phil Coombe, Jr., and four bulldozers gave the old homestead new life as they achieved their goal of moving it to a new location, awaiting restoration and the ultimate goal of educating visitors about the past.

The Time and the Valleys Museum is a living and interactive resource that preserves the past, educates the present and ensures the uniqueness of the Rondout and Neversink watersheds for all generations. Currently located in the Neversink Town Hall, the Museum provides educational programming for the public and is actively raising funds to install exhibitions in the Museum’s future home, co-located in the new addition to the Daniel Pierce Library. Please call us at 985-2262 x 313 for more information or go online at www.timeandthevalleysmuseum.org.