Genesee Country Village and Museum
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| Established | 1976 |
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| Location | Mumford, New York |
| Type | 19th-century living history museum |
| Director | Becky Wehle, President and CEO (Granddaughter of John L. Wehle) |
| Curator | Peter Wisbey, Curator of Collections |
| Website | Official site |
The Genesee Country Village and Museum is a 19th-century living history museum covering more than 600 acres (2.4 km2) located in the small hamlet of Mumford, New York, United States, about 20 miles (32 km) from Rochester. On the museum property is the 19th-century village (the Historic Village), the John L. Wehle Gallery of Sporting Art, the Genesee Country Nature Center, the Carriage Museum, the Silver Baseball Park and the Heirloom Gardens. The facility offers special events and classes throughout the year.
The Genesee Country Village and Museum was conceived and founded by John (Jack) L. Wehle in 1966. He was a collector of art and recognized that another art form, the work of regional carpenters, master builders, and housewrights, was fast disappearing from the landscape. The proposed museum was to be a village of selected examples of 19th-century Genesee Country architecture that demonstrated not only form, but also function. The buildings would be showcases of the disciplines of cabinetry, weaving, pottery and other artisans which would be displayed in appropriate cultural context.
A site for this undertaking was chosen in Mumford, New York, a quiet corner of Monroe County. Much of the land, once cleared and farmed, had reverted to the wild state which greeted the first settlers. Stone fences trailing through the rolling woodlands and anchoring the hedgerows remained as evidence of the frontier farming venture.
For ten years the founder and the museum director, architectural historian Stuart Bolger, guided a corps of carpenters and masons in turning the long-neglected land to new uses in the form of a recreated village. During the first decade of development, some three dozen buildings of the style, type, and function found in the rural communities of western New York were acquired and placed in the configuration of an early Genesee Country hamlet. Vintage farm structures were moved in and placed alongside the village. With care and historical respect these buildings were restored.
Concurrently, the curatorial staff undertook the quest for relevant artifacts to furnish and equip the renewed buildings. The results of their quest are fully furnished houses, shops and farms supported by a large collection of antiques and historical pieces.
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