By Town Historian Duane Cornell

 The Town of Greenfield is fortunate to have an active historical society whose mission is to promote and preserve the history of our town. The Greenfield Historical Society hosts annual open houses at the various historic locations around town like the Daketown School and the Kings Station train depot and the group maintains the Chatfield Museum in Middle Grove. They host monthly presentations of local area history at the community center at no charge to attend. 

 At the museum, there is a carriage barn dating back to 1830 and over the years this barn has settled in the ground and causing structural issues. This structure is a part of Greenfield’s history and an interesting part of the museum. It is the hope of the Greenfield Historical Society that the carriage barn can be rehabilitated and used to display large items such as the four horse drawn wagons and a horse-drawn sleigh that have been graciously gifted to them. This will involve having the almost 200-year-old building lifted, stabilized and a slab placed under it to prevent future settling. Any needed groundwork and structural repairs would be done at this time as well. 

They have set a goal of $72,000 to have the repairs and work done with a September 2025 completion date. The Greenfield Historical Society is kindly asking for donations to help with this project. There is a GoFundMe page titled “1830 carriage barn renovation” or donations can be sent to The Greenfield Historical Society, P.O. Box 502, Greenfield Center NY 12833. Here is a link to the fundraising page.

The old homes and buildings still standing are a reminder of those who forged our town from the virgin forests and worked the land in a place we call home. We are the keepers of their stories and handywork. It is where we come from. It is our history. 

I ask that you please consider making a donation to keep a piece of that history alive.