Honoring the history to the Gateway of the Finger Lakes.

Upcoming Events

Autumn Newsletter

COMING SOON!!!
Our Boating Hall of Fame

Our inaugural Boating Hall of Fame was a rousing success! We’d like to thank everyone involved in helping us. We look forward to working with you all for the next one!
October Cemetery Tours

October 25th
Tour Times: 10:30am • 12:00pm • 1:30pm

Make your reservation
Festival of Wreaths

FRI & SAT 11/7 - 11/29 • 1:00pm-4:00pm
FRI, SAT & SUN 11/30 -12/21 • 1:00pm-4:00pm
Visitors will have an opportunity to purchase beautifully crafted wreaths by local merchants, businesses and volunteers.
Freedom For All: Civil Resistance and the fight against slavery in Antebellum Syracuse

November 18 • 2:00pm
This presentation examines the work of a small but dedicated group of abolitionists in Syracuse New York, led by Rev. Samuel May and Rev. Jermain Loguen. Loguen, a man who escaped his own enslavement in Tennessee and settled in Syracuse in 1841, became one of the era’s most successful and well-known Station Masters on the UGRR.
Holiday Shops

FRI & SAT 11/7 - 11/8 • 11:00am-4:00pm
Get the perfect gift this season by local vendors and peruse all our new merchandise just in time for the holidays!

Discover local history past & present.

Founding

The Skaneateles Historical Society was formed on March 22, 1961, when an initial meeting that was attended by 48 residents was held in Library Hall. For the first six years, meetings were held in the high school cafeteria. Beginning in 1967, the Society began to meet at St. Mary’s Hall. On March 22, 1982, the Society moved to meeting rooms in the Town Hall on Jordan Street.
Granted Charter

On March 29, 1968, the Skaneateles Historical Society was granted a charter by the State of New York Education Department, “incorporating Marian S. Holben, Alzina C. Loveless, Catharine R. Barnes, Julia L. Dowling, and Maurice F. Baumgartner and their associates and successors as an educational corporation under the corporate name of The Skaneateles Historical Society…to study, research, exhibit, preserve and promote whatever may relate to the history of the township of Skaneateles.”
Creamy Museum

The Society eventually began to search for a permanent home. Some places considered were a baggage car from the Skaneateles Short Line Railroad, the Harvey house at the corner of East Genesee St. and East Lake Rd., and the old Grand Union building. In 1989, an opportunity was offered to the Society to take over the former Skaneateles Creamery Co. building at 28 Hannum St. The members voted in favor of this project, and with the help of the community, it opened in 1992 as the permanent home of the Skaneateles Historical Society.