The Old Stone Fort Museum‘s Hartman’s Dorf House is undergoing a restoration project with the goal of opening the building to the public. The Hartman’s Dorf House is situated between the Oliver Schoolhouse and the Dutch Barn in the center of the museum complex in Schoharie County, NY.
Some of the rehabilitation work includes floors, walls, windows, and siding. One of the key projects to bring the structure into use was a new, historically accurate fireplace and hearth, which would enable living historians to demonstrate what home life was like for 18th-century German settlers.
Extensive work was done by staff and volunteers to consult experts, research existing examples, draft plans, and obtain quotes in the hopes of making restorations possible. Schoharie County Historical Society President Curt Van Steele was able to secure $5,000 worth of bricks to complete the project, but that still left an estimated $25,000 to bring it to completion.
The Nicholas J. Juried Family Foundation then awarded the Museum with a $25,000 grant. The donation will permit the society to offer a fuller and more accurate interpretation of 18th-century life in the structure and plans are already in the works to enhance programming with the use of the recently completed period-appropriate beehive oven just outside its doors.
For more information visit the Old Stone Fort Museum website.
Photo of Hartman’s Dorf House provided.
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