Come with me and visit the Elwood Museum

The Elwood Museum in Amsterdam one year later!

This week in August of 2011 a flood hit the Walter Elwood Museum during Hurricane Irene the fifth costliest United States hurricane.

Located on the Mohawk River in Amsterdam NY, the museum sustained horrific damage and is still trying to restore many of the artifacts that could be found among the mud and silt from the severe damage to its first floor.

The museum building itself was a historic treasure, Guy Park Manor, a limestone building built in 1774 by Guy Johnson on land given to him by his Uncle Sir William Johnson.  Johnson was also Sir Guy’s father-in-law since he had married Mary Johnson, one of William’s daughters. 

Amsterdam's Guy Park Manor, which is listed on the Historic Register was literally torn apart by the water, with its interior in part washed away by the raging river after its walls had been battered in by debris.

When able to return Ann Piconie the museum’s Executive Director, volunteers and workers literally sorted through mud to find artifacts that once graced the Victorian Room and first floor of the museum that lost its walls and contents to the river and the disaster.

The museum’s collections started many years earlier with the personal collection of an educator in the Greater Amsterdam School District - Walter Elwood.  Elwood, who had traveled widely as a young man collected all variety of antiquities including artwork, natural history objects, and things from Amsterdam and the Mohawk Valley’s past.

Joseph Todak, an art teacher, did exhibits in 1978, and the museum that houses over 25,000 items took form moving to a 100-year-old brick building and eventually on to Guy Park Manor.

Today work continues on the restoration of the artifacts with the museum set to move to higher ground at another location in Amsterdam.   The restoration of those artifacts that were saved however, will continue for many years to come and funds to do the work will have to be raised.

For more information or to learn how you can help you can go to www.walterelwoodmuseum.org .