By Tabitha Scoville, Director
On May 13, 1925, the Cortland County Historical Society was summoned into existence like a genie from a bottle, and since that day, the mission of the organization has changed extraordinarily little. The Cortland County Historical Society (CCHS) collects, protects, and shares the history of Cortland County. The methods of meeting its mission have changed over time, but the core principle is the same.
Founder Jeanette Benton Sherwood and a group of other individuals interested in the preservation of Cortland County’s past came together to create an organization dedicated to documenting the development of the county and the stories of the people who came to live in the area after land was awarded to soldiers of the American Revolution as part of the Military Tract. Initially the members of the Society sought to preserve information through talks given at meetings by members, and those members worked diligently to find, document, and transcribe historical records of significance within the county. One early project was to transcribe town, church, and school records, and another important undertaking was to find every cemetery in the county and document the gravestones in each. Almost immediately, people in the community began to give their most treasured family heirlooms to CCHS to safeguard, and the organization found it would require space to store the priceless records and objects that were materializing from the community.
By 1930, CCHS had obtained office space in the basement of the Cortland Free Library for its growing collection, but as operations expanded, it became clear that there wasn’t enough room for the fledgling operation at that location. In 1937, the county provided rooms in the courthouse for the rapidly growing organization and provided an appropriation to pay for the services of an executive secretary, the first paid employee of CCHS. People from far and wide began to look to CCHS to learn more about their family history, and volunteers dug deep within the quickly accumulating resources to find information to satisfy these queries. CCHS members created indexes for often used books to allow them to locate information faster. Librarians gravitated to CCHS and put their skills to use to identify and organize records. The years at the courthouse were productive ones, and the Society accumulated early records and objects that help tell the stories of the past. CCHS partnered with other historical organizations and educational institutions to professionalize the still mostly volunteer group.
For nearly thirty years, the arrangement with the courthouse worked, but it was obvious that CCHS needed more room. The rooms were packed to overflowing, and members were storing items in their homes, garages, barns, and businesses to ensure that important artifacts were not lost to time. The county was looking for additional space for their offices, too, and in 1964, CCHS member John Chester Birdlebough offered the home of his great grandparents, James and Jane Suggett, to the Society for its permanent location. The house was purchased for $1 and named the Suggett House Museum. It took three years to prepare for the move to the Suggett House because the museum collection was large and mostly undocumented. The collection was catalogued with help from New York State, and the house was modified to become a museum and archival repository. The formal dedication of the Suggett House Museum was on April 8, 1967.
Once the move was made to the Suggett House, it became apparent that more space was needed (remember all the items being stored in people’s houses?), and plans were made to expand the facility to include a library to house all the archival materials and books. Architect Werner Seligmann was chosen to design the addition, and the Kellogg Memorial Research Center was dedicated on December 5, 1976. Today this portion of the facility contains books, records, papers, photos, maps, and other archival materials. The Suggett House includes museum exhibits that tell the stories of Cortland County as well as artifact storage and office space.
Establishing a permanent location for operations allowed CCHS to focus on caring for the museum and archival collections entrusted to its care. The last fifty years have seen staff and volunteers work together to organize and conserve information and objects, research and create museum exhibits, and publish books that preserve more recent history. To improve access to history, CCHS made museum admission free to all in 2021 and created the Then & Now Children’s Room in 2022. Kids can learn more about local history through the power of play in our child sized changing store and log cabin. The store was designed to metamorphosize from one type of store to another to give kids different experiences when they visit.
It is important for CCHS to navigate the past and present by providing a variety of ways to access history, and over the last one hundred years, how we connect people to history has changed dramatically. Even twenty years ago, people had to physically visit to learn about local history or find information about their family tree. In person programs and outreach into schools meant people could see and even touch history, but with the rise of technology, social media has revolutionized how people consume information, and we have worked to meet people on this new playing field while also offering the traditional museum and research experience along with talks and workshops. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have exponentially expanded our ability to share Cortland County’s unique history, and this has led to increased membership, donations, attendance at events, and awareness of what we do. We utilize social media to provide a behind the scenes glimpse at cool artifacts, mysteries we’ve uncovered, conservation efforts, digitizing challenges, and how to navigate popular genealogical tools online. By providing a mix of traditional programming with the bells and whistles of the 21st century , CCHS has remained relevant and is growing.
In fact, on June 24, 2025, CCHS completed the acquisition of the former Free Methodist Church just around the corner from our longtime home at 25 Homer Avenue. It’s no secret that CCHS has struggled for years to find enough space to hold educational activities in our current location, and parking is difficult on our corner even on the best of days. Having additional space to preserve and share the rich history of Cortland County will allow us to meet our mission in new and innovative ways, and we are delighted to preserve this building which will be used for history lectures, workshops, and fundraising activities for CCHS.
In addition to providing a variety of in person programs in our community, our Grace Street campus will house the Past Times Memory Preservation Lab, a space where you can digitize your photos and documents or sit down with CCHS staff members to record an interview about your life and times. Copies of scanned items and interviews will be added to our files for your descendants to discover many years from now, making you their favorite ancestor! More information about this endeavor will be available in spring of 2026.
With a museum, children’s room, and research center in our main building on Homer Avenue, and an additional building dedicated to educational opportunities on Grace Street, CCHS will continue to ignite and inspire a new generation of stewards of our community’s history!
For one hundred years, CCHS has been an anchor of our community, and countless people have contributed their family histories, given their time, and invested in the future of this organization, all to meet this moment. During our centennial year, how amazing is it that this opportunity for expansion presented itself? The future is alive with all the possibilities, and we cannot wait see where this path leads next for CCHS.
