AFTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

“Located in a house and barn on Afton’s Main Street, the Historical Society’s museum houses everything from military memorabilia to Burma Shave road signs to items connected to the Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith, who was for a time a resident of the area. Much of the collection tells a story of ordinary life in the community.” (Annual Report, Community Foundation of South Central NY, 2010)

The Afton Historical Society, chartered in 1986, maintains the Afton Museum at 116 Main St, which is open to the public by appointment and on Saturday mornings from Memorial Day through Labor Day weekend. Town Historian Charles Decker reports that, in addition to local people interested in the town’s history, the museum has attracted visitors from Oneonta to Australia, many specifically interested in Mormon history.

The Historical Society board meets monthly and presents programs for the community from April through November.

The society also publishes a yearly calendar with historical themes relating to our area.

The old photographs are wonderful. The 2013 calendar features Afton’s Disasters – and in addition to recent flooding, highlights events from “before our time” including  railroad accidents and the Great Fire of 1884. Previous calendar themes have included the Civil War, the Afton Fair, Tools of the Times, and Sports. The calendars are reasonably priced (only $6) and are available for purchase at the museum, the Town Clerk’s office, and the Afton Library.

In the recent past, The Afton Historical Society has received grant monies from the Community Foundation of SCNY  for the archival preservation of documents. The Chenango County Council on the Arts has funded the Historical Society’s annual Jazz Band Ball concert.

There are many ways to support the efforts of this organization. Volunteer help is needed and welcomed – from presenting a historical program or suggesting the topic of a presentation, greeting museum visitors, staffing the booth at the Afton Fair, or doing landscape work or minor repairs at the museum. You can join the Afton Historical Society . Send checks (seniors $5, adult $7, and family $10) to PO Box 142, Afton, NY 13730. For other questions, call Charles Decker (639-2720).

(This article from page 7, Winter 2013 issue, The Afton Vision)