Summer Walking Tour Series
(June – September 2024)
GOHS kicks off our Summer Walking Tour Series on Saturday, June 22 at 2pm with a Walking Tour of the Walnut Street Historic District, led by GOHS’ Bob Brzozowski and Loraine Tyler. This tour will meet in the Dietz Street parking lot on the Ford Avenue end (rain date Sunday, June 23).
Then, in July, join us our annual tours of the historic Red Caboose in Neahwa Park during the July Fourth celebrations on Thursday, July 4. Join us 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.
Next, on July 19, join GOHS at the Job Corps. campus for a tour of the historic Homer Folks Hospital, led by GOHS’ 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 2pm with registration beginning at 1:30pm at the front entrance of the Administration Building. Tour goers will then travel to the Homer Folks auditorium on the fourth floor for a brief presentation by Janice and Frank on their experiences and memories of Homer Folks. Groups will then tour the grounds with Bob, Bill, and Janet, including the interior of the administration building, as well as view the old nurses’ residence, medical staff housing, children’s hospital, power station, emergency shelter, and the outdoor campus, weather permitting. While this tour is by donation, space is limited to just 35 people, and we do request that you please RSVP by Thursday, July 18 to directormm@oneontahistory.org or by calling the History Center at 607-432-0960, to reserve your space! GOHS would like to thank Job Corps for their partnership and planning for this event.
On Saturday, August 3, join us as native Oneontan and historian Dr. John Nader leads us on an historic tour of Oneonta’s Sixth Ward or the “lower deck.” Nader will explore the influx of Italian, Eastern European, and Lebanese immigrants in tandem with the growing presence of the D&H railroad, reflections on the lives of immigrant families, and the unique Sixth Ward social institutions they created. This tour will meet at 2pm at the Boys and Girls Club on River Street, where parking will be available.
Also in August, join us on Saturday, August 24, at the Oneonta Armory (4 Academy Street), as GOHS members Bob Brzozowski and Stephen Yerly lead us on a tour of the historic Armory building. Constructed in 1905 to station the NYS National Guard, and purchased by the City of Oneonta in 2003, the Armory has served as community meeting place for generations. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. This tour starts at 2pm, immediately following and accompanying the unveiling ceremony for the Oneonta Armory Historical Marker, funded by the Pomeroy Foundation.
All GOHS Summer Walking Tours are by donation and reservations are not required, unless otherwise noted. Additional tours to be announced in the coming months.
Unveiling Ceremonies,
NYS Historical Markers
(June – August 2024)
GOHS is excited to announce our next round of historical markers for 2024! 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.
This summer, GOHS and the City of Oneonta will hold public unveiling ceremonies for each historical marker. We will begin with the Huntington Home, at the Huntington Memorial Library (62 Chestnut Street), on Wednesday, June 5 at 2pm. Next, we will unveil the marker at Damaschke Field (15 James Georgeson Avenue), at the beginning of the Oneonta Outlaws game on Thursday, June 13 at 6:30pm. Then, we will unveil the marker at the D&H Train Station (58-60 Market Street), on Tuesday, July 9 at 1pm. The next marker unveiling for the Wilber Mansion (11 Ford Avenue) will be held on Tuesday, July 23 at 2pm.
The marker unveiling for the Oneonta Ford Sales Building marker will be on Wednesday, August 7 at 1pm. And finally, the unveiling of the marker for the Oneonta Armory (4 Academy Street) will be held immediately prior to a historic Walking Tour of the Armory, on Saturday, August 24 at 2pm. 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!
2024 Cycle
Hometown Heroes Banner Program
***THE DEADLINE FOR NEW 2024 HOMETOWN HEREOS BANNERS IS NOW CLOSED.
The Hometown Heroes banner program serves as a living tribute and to honor our community’s past and present members of the Armed Forces.
The personalized banners are displayed on the light poles throughout the Town and City of Oneonta to celebrate and remind our community of our local veterans’ historic service, bravery, and dedication to our country.
The banners will be displayed Memorial Day (May 27) 2024 – Veterans Day (November 11) 2024.
The 2024 cycle will expand the locations of banners to not only the City of Oneonta, but the Town of Oneonta as well. In addition to banner locations on Main, River, and Chestnut Streets in the City of Oneonta, the 2024 cycle will also include banner locations down Chestnut and Oneida Streets in the Town of Oneonta.
GOHS would of course like to thank our sponsors, veterans, and the City and Town of Oneonta for helping to make the 2024 Hometown Heroes Banner Program another success!
In addition, as we did last year, GOHS intends to update our electronic and printed listing of our 2024 Hometown Heroes, 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 (a brief one or two paragraphs, a maximum of 170-175 words) to accompany their Hero’s listing. Participation in this project is optional/voluntary. If you are interested in including a biography on your Hometown Hero, please send your biography to Marcela Micucci (via email, to directormm@oneontahistory.org, or by mail, to PO Box 814, Oneonta NY, 13820). The deadline for biography submissions is SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 2024.
For more information, please contact the History Center by email (directormm@oneontahistory.org), or by phone (607-432-0960).
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.