Historian May Move Collection

COBLESKILL - At the latest Cobleskill Town Board meeting, members heard remarks from Peter Lindemann, the local town historian, and his desire to sort through the items in their impressive collection.

He began his short presentation by sharing that the collection of historical photos, journals, brochures, and other aged texts used to reside in the library, but it was moved to a storage unit when the building began its renovations.

Now the collection lives inside the Town barn, but that is far from its final resting place. Mr. Lindemann talked about how the library plans on hosting a history room once its annex is complete, but the beast of a project is proving to be quite daunting.

However, in Mr. Lindemann’s eyes, he’d at least like to start getting ready for their eventual return. After sharing a few items that he brought with him, such as photos dating back to nearly one hundred years ago, he shared his desire to move the collection to a suitable place to sort through the one hundred boxes.

“The Town of Cobleskill Historical Society, which went into hibernation during COVID, has re-emerged stronger than ever,” Mr. Lindemann shared. “The Society has some money, and its Board of Directors wants to help organize the collection.”

“I have seen photographs and documents from the 1952 bi-centennial celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Town. What a wonderful presentation that would make this Fourth of July as we mark our nation’s two hundred fiftieth anniversary.”

Leading into his final request, Mr. Lindemann asked the Board for permission to move the collection to a suitable location if he is able to find one, and to once again open access back to interested residents so that they can see these items.

Supporting his request, the Board was unanimous in their agreement, and Supervisor Werner Hampel noted that they would consider his request once a location was found.