Tour The Museum.
Explore The Past.
The Madison County Historical Society’s mission is to preserve, collect, promote and exhibit the history of Madison County and its fifteen towns and one city through the development of programs and events that enhance the county’s heritage for the people of Madison County and those studying the county’s heritage.
Best Museum/Art Gallery category
Best Local Event category for Cottage Lawn Farmers’ Market
Thank You For Your Votes! See More Winners at Oneida Daily DispatchTour The Grounds
The Cottage Lawn
Come tour the Cottage Lawn, our 1849 Gothic Revival Villa designed by prominent architect Alexander Jackson Davis, now serving as both a museum and society headquarters. Discover what life was like in the Victorian period and learn about Madison County’s heritage when you book a tour.
Located in Oneida, NY, this 5,706 sqft home features two parlors, a dining room, a library/trophy room, a kitchen with butler’s pantry, vault, children’s room, grandmother’s room, housekeeper’s room, and changing exhibit room. Visit the new hop culture exhibit located within the property’s agricultural barn.
Guided House Tours:
Monday – Friday, 10am – 2pm
$5.00 per adult | MCHS Members & children under 12 are free
Unearth The Past
Mary King
Research Library
Housed within the Museum is the Mary King Research Library – a valuable resource for historians, researches, and curious individuals alike.
The library contains the history of Madison County including records of statistics, published histories, newspapers, microfilms, and countless other sources of record keeping and photography.
Hours: Monday – Friday, 10am – 3pm
Admission: Members & High School Students are free.
$20 for nonmembers | $5 student rate college/graduate
Events
When: Thursday, June 22 at 6 pm
Location: Madison County Historical Society
Admission: $5 suggested donation
Members of the Smith family were nationally known for their work in either human rights or science. The program will examine the Reform Era in which they lived that made their achievements plausible and effective and the issues that each of them pursued. Starting in the 1820s and continuing through the 1920s, the Smith family of Peterboro led the way in some of the greatest reform efforts in the nation’s history. Their work encompassed the abolition of slavery, women’s rights, and woman suffrage, as well as dress reform, the preservation and study of the animal world, and initiatives in politics and religion that still affect our modern world.
Norman K. Dann, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus at Morrisville State College, where he taught Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Environmental Science from 1966 – 1999. Living in a cottage formerly on the Gerrit Smith Estate, Norm is a Gerrit Smith scholar and author of several other books including biographies of the Smith family of Peterboro. He is the head docent at the Gerrit Smith Estate and a founder of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum.
There will be an opportunity to purchase copies of Passionate Energies: The Gerrit and Ann Smith Family Through a Century of Reform and to request the author’s signature
A Madison County Holiday Travel Through Time Exhibition
When: November 21 & 28 at 1pm
Location: Madison County Historical Society, 435 Main Street, Oneida, NY 13421
For the 2021 Holiday Season, the Madison County Historical Society is offering an unprecedented exhibit of over 20 rare early-American shelf clocks made in Madison County between 1830-1842, entitled “A Madison County Holiday Travel Through Time.”
