2025 NYS Historical Marker
Unveiling Ceremonies
GOHS is excited to announce our next round of historical markers for 2025!
This year, the William G. Pomeroy Foundation’s New York State Historic Marker Grant Program will fund the purchase of two new yellow and blue historical markers in Oneonta for Center St. School and the historic Red Caboose. With the help of the Future for Oneonta Foundation, the Unitarian Universalist Church, the Schumann Foundation, and other donors, GOHS has also individually funded three historical markers for McDonald Tavern, the Ford Mansion, and McDonald Tavern. Each of these locations are a testament to Oneonta’s history of innovation, evolution, and enduring sense of community.
This summer, GOHS will hold public unveiling ceremonies for each historical marker. We will begin with the unveiling of the marker for Center St. School (31 Center Street), on Friday, June 13, at 2pm. This marker commemorates the oldest standing school in the City of Oneonta, opened in 1897. Now the home to the Oneonta City School District, superintendent Tom Brindley and OSCD staff will join us for the unveiling.
Next, GOHS and the City of Oneonta will unveil the historical marker commemorating the Historic Red Caboose in Neahwa Park (15 James Georgeson Avenue) on Tuesday, July 1, at 1pm, in advance of the Fourth of July festivities. The marker for the Red Caboose honors Oneonta’s railroad history and the founding of one of the first and largest labor organizations, the Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen (later Trainmen) in 1883.
Then, we will be joined by Sixth Ward staples Dr. John Nader, Frank Russo, and additional honored guests for the unveiling of the marker for The Sixth Ward at the Oneonta Boys & Girls Club (70 River Street) on Friday, July 25, at 2pm. The Sixth Ward marker commemorates the Sixth Ward neighborhood, its diverse immigrant community, and the social and civic institutions they created. This marker unveiling will be a precursor to the Sixth Ward Booster Club’s Tennis Court Dance that same evening at 7pm!
The next marker unveiling, for the Ford Mansion (now Community Bank, 245 Main Street), will be on Wednesday, August 13, at 1pm. Once home to abolitionist Eliakim Reed Ford, the marker will stand at the former location of the mansion, which was torn down in 1929. David Schumann, descendent of the Ford family, will be joining us for this ceremony, along with Harry Bradshaw Matthews, who will speak to the mansion’s reputed connection to the Underground Railroad.
Our final historical marker unveiling for McDonald Tavern (now Stewart’s Shop, 47 Main Street), will be held on Thursday, August 28, at 3pm. The tavern, razed in 1961, was one of Oneonta’s first operating taverns and the reputed birthplace of acclaimed photographer of the West, Carleton E. Watkins.
Thank you to our partners, Mayor Mark Drnek and the City of Oneonta for supporting the historical marker project; to GOHS Collections Assistant Andrew Kendall, Center Street School historian Mark Parmerter and Secretary to the Superintendent Reggie Ranieri McGuinness, and the Milne Library at SUNY Oneonta for assisting with the grant applications; and to our friends and colleagues with the Oneonta City School District, the Oneonta Boys & Girls Club, Community Bank, and Stewart’s Shops for helping to make this round of historical markers a success!
Please join us in celebrating the continued preservation of Oneonta’s rich history.
2025 Summer
Walking Tour Series
Join GOHS for our upcoming Summer Walking Tour Series!
GOHS kicks off our 2025 Summer Walking Tour Series on Thursday, June 26, at 1:30pm with a Walking Tour of the historic Homer Folks Tuberculosis Hospital on the Job Corps campus, led by GOHS’s Bob Brzozowski, Bill Pietraface, and Janet Potter, former Homer Folks nurse Janice Downie, and former Homer Folks child patient Frank Marquette. This tour will begin at 1:30pm with registration beginning at 1pm at the front entrance of the Administration Building. Tour goers will then travel to the field house (gym) for a presentation by Janice and Frank on their experiences and memories of TB Hospital. Groups will then divide up and choose to tour either the exterior grounds with Bob and Bill (view the old nurses’ residence, medical staff housing, children’s hospital, power station, emergency shelter, and the outdoor campus, weather permitting) or the interior of the administration building (includes the operating room, autoclave and display, plus the stairwell exhibit). While this tour is by donation, space is limited to just 40 people, and we do request that you please RSVP by Monday, June 23 to directormm@oneontahistory.org or by calling the History Center at 607-432-0960, to reserve your space! To speed along check-in at Job Corps the day of, we request that when registering for the tour you are prepared to provide yours and your party’s name(s), date of birth(s), and drivers license number(s), plus your tour preference (indoor or outdoor). GOHS thanks Oneonta Job Corps Academy for their partnership and planning for this event.
Then, in July, join us our annual tours of the historic Red Caboose in Neahwa Park during the July Fourth celebrations on Friday, July 4 from 2-4pm. Join our own Bhanu Gaur at the Caboose for a chance to step inside, walk through, and get an up-close view of the Red Caboose and learn more about its history and the story of the Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen.
Then, on the evening of Thursday, July 24, GOHS Trustees Art Torrey and Liz Morley join us again to lead a tour of downtown in the 1960s! This tour will explore historic downtown in the “age of Woodstock” to coincide with our summer music exhibition, Schools of Rock. This tour will leave from the History Center (183 Main Street) at 6:00pm.
On Saturday, August 16, GOHS Trustees Frank Antonucci, Bob Brzozowski, and Art Torrey will lead a historic tour of Riverside Cemetery. The tour will explore the sites of Oneonta’s Civil War soldiers and famous Oneontans, like the Ford, Fox, and Watkins families. The tour will meet at the gates of the Cemetery at 3pm. Please be advised, terrain for this tour may be difficult.
All GOHS Summer Walking Tours are by donation and reservations are not required, unless otherwise noted. Additional tours may be announced in the coming months.
Soccertown: Then & Now
Panel Presentation
Thursday, May 8, 6:00 - 7:30pm
Foothills Performing Arts Center (24 Market Street) Loft Space
On Thursday, May 8, GOHS held a public program to coincide with our current special exhibition, Oneonta: Soccertown USA at the Foothills Performing Arts Center (24 Market Street) Loft Space. If you were unable to attend the program, check out the recording of the event below, courtesy of Otsego Media!
The panel presentation, Soccertown: Then & Now, brought together past and present coaches and players from Hartwick College, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta High School, and the community to discuss their experiences and Oneonta’s rich soccer history.
Moderated by Tony Avanzato, panelists included: Alex Brannan, SUNY Oneonta player & OHS Boy’s Soccer Coach; Jim Lennox, Coach of the 1977 Hartwick Men’s Soccer Championship Team; Ian McIntyre, Hartwick player & SUNY Oneonta & Hartwick Men’s Soccer Coach (& current Men’s Soccer Coach at Syracuse University); Mara Primmer, OHS player & SUNY Oneonta Women’s Soccer Coach; Tracey Ranieri, SUNY Oneonta Women’s Soccer Coach & Athletic Director; and Dave Ranieri, OHS & SUNY Oneonta player and SUNY Oneonta Assistant Coach.
The program was held in the loft space of the Foothills Performing Arts Center and was free and open to the public.
2025 Cycle
Hometown Heroes Banner Program
*Applications for NEW 2025 Hometown Heroes Banners are NOW CLOSED.
In 2023, the Greater Oneonta Historical Society (GOHS) launched the Oneonta Hometown Heroes Banner Program. The program honors Oneonta’s hometown veterans with a custom 18×48” banner, mounted along the light poles in the town and city of Oneonta to honor veterans or those currently serving in the Armed Forces.
The Hometown Heroes banners are displayed from Memorial Day (May 26, 2025) to Veterans Day (November 11, 2025) each year, and each banner includes a photo of the veteran, their name and branch of service, time served, and any medals received.
GOHS would like to thank our sponsors, veterans, and the City and Town of Oneonta for helping make the 2023 and 2024 Hometown Heroes programs a success! We look forward to continuing the Hometown Heroes program honoring current and past servicemembers in 2025. Banners can be sponsored by anyone who would like to honor a veteran. A sponsor may be a business, a friend or family member of a veteran (or a group of friends or family members), or the veteran themselves. The honoree does not need to be a native of Oneonta.
Like last year, display locations for banners in 2025 will include light poles down Main Street, River Street, and Chestnut Street (up to West Street) in the City of Oneonta and Chestnut Street (from West End Avenue) and Oneida Streets in the Town of Oneonta.
The 2024 banners came down in November. They are clean and stored at the Oneonta History Center (183 Main Street). If you are a banner sponsor that would like to pick up your banner(s), banner pickup will be available at the History Center after during business hours (Wednesday – Friday, 12-4pm; Saturday 10am-4pm).
2023 and 2024 banner sponsors that wish to renew the display of their banner for the 2025 season may submit a renewal application for a small annual fee. Their banners will remain stored at the History Center until next season and put back on display. Any banner that is damaged or in need of repair will be reordered, at no cost to the sponsor.
Banner sponsors will also have the option of choosing their preferred location(s) for their banner(s). All banners (new and renewed) and their locations are on a first come first serve basis and spaces are limited, so be sure to renew your banner, or apply for a new banner, soon! The deadline for applications for NEW and RENEWAL banners for the 2025 is now closed.
As we have done in past years, GOHS intends to update our electronic and printed listing of our 2025 Hometown Hereos, which will be available on our website and as a printed pamphlet for sale in our gift shop. Each listing will include the Hero’s name, along with their photo and the information included on their banners. We are asking our sponsors to each send an additional short biography (max. 150-175 words) to accompany their Hero’s listing. Participation in this project is encouraged, but voluntary/optional. If you are interested in including a biography on your Hometown Heroes, please send your biography to program director Marcela Micucci (via email: directormm@oneontahistory.org; by mail: PO Box 814, Oneonta, NY 13820). The deadline for biography submissions is MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2025.
Stay updated on the 2025 Hometown Heroes Banner Program and learn more about the application process and deadlines by following GOHS’ social media pages @oneontahistoricalsociety. For additional inquiries, please contact program director Marcela Micucci (directormm@oneontahistory.org) or call the History Center at (607) 432-0960.
GOHS looks forward to the 2025 cycle of the Hometown Heroes Banner Program.
2024 NYS
Historical Marker Initiative
This year, the William G. Pomeroy Foundation’s New York State Historic Marker Grant Program funded the purchase of five new yellow and blue historical markers in Oneonta.
The markers include the D&H Train Station, built in 1892, at the former site of Stella Luna Ristorante (58-60 Market Street); the Huntington Home, today the Huntington Memorial Library and Park (62 Chestnut Street); Damaschke Field in Neahwa Park, one of the oldest active ballparks in America (15 James Georgeson Avenue); the Wilber Mansion, now home to the Community Arts Network of Oneonta (CANO) (11 Ford Avenue); and the Oneonta Armory, built in 1905 (4 Academy Street). With the help of the Future for Oneonta Foundation, GOHS has also individually funded a historical marker for the Oneonta Ford Sales Building. Each of these locations are a testament to Oneonta’s history of innovation, evolution, and enduring sense of community.
Please join us in celebrating the continued preservation of Oneonta’s rich history.
Thank you to our partners, Mayor Mark Drnek and the City of Oneonta’s Department of Public Works, for installing the markers and for supporting the historical marker project. And a special thanks to our friends and colleagues at Huntington Memorial Library, CANO, Stella Luna’s, and Damaschke Field for helping to make this round of historical markers a success!
D&H Special Exhibition - April 22, 2023 - November 2023
This spring, GOHS will open our next special exhibition, to open in April 2023. Released in two parts, the exhibition will commemorate the bicentennial of the D&H Canal Company charter, which provided over 100 years of railroad service to the town and city of Oneonta.
Part I, Building Up Steam: The Rise of the D&H Railroad in Oneonta (April 22 – July) and Part II, Leaving the Station: The Fall of the D&H Railroad in Oneonta (August – November) will explore the rise and fall of the D&H Railroad and its operations in Oneonta from the 1850s through modern day, including the invaluable impact the railroad had on Oneonta’s economic, social, and cultural landscape.
On display in the Brzozowski Special Exhibition Gallery and the SUNY Oneonta Alumni and Buckingham windows, it will feature a variety of local D&H artifacts, documents, and photographs from GOHS’ collection.
The exhibit is curated by GOHS’ Executive Director, Dr. Marcela Micucci, and Associate Curator Bhanu Gaur, with the help of a talented team of exhibition designers, docents, advisors, and collections staff. This exhibition was made possible in part by a 2023 New York State Council of the Arts Support for Organizations grant.
D&H Special Exhibition - April 22, 2023 - November 2023
This spring, GOHS will open our next special exhibition, to open in April 2023. Released in two parts, the exhibition will commemorate the bicentennial of the D&H Canal Company charter, which provided over 100 years of railroad service to the town and city of Oneonta.
Part I, Building Up Steam: The Rise of the D&H Railroad in Oneonta (April 22 – July) and Part II, Leaving the Station: The Fall of the D&H Railroad in Oneonta (August – November) will explore the rise and fall of the D&H Railroad and its operations in Oneonta from the 1850s through modern day, including the invaluable impact the railroad had on Oneonta’s economic, social, and cultural landscape.
On display in the Brzozowski Special Exhibition Gallery and the SUNY Oneonta Alumni and Buckingham windows, it will feature a variety of local D&H artifacts, documents, and photographs from GOHS’ collection.
The exhibit is curated by GOHS’ Executive Director, Dr. Marcela Micucci, and Associate Curator Bhanu Gaur, with the help of a talented team of exhibition designers, docents, advisors, and collections staff. This exhibition was made possible in part by a 2023 New York State Council of the Arts Support for Organizations grant.