The
people's choice in Livingston County... and beyond!
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The
people's choice in Livingston County... and beyond!
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Please note: More complete information about this and related subjects
can be found in our new Western New York Travel
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Soup simmering over an open hearth, bread baking in a brick oven, the ringing
of a blacksmith's hammer.... These are but a few of the sights, smells and
sounds of early America that welcome me to Genesee Country Museum, an authentic
expression of regional life over 150 years ago.
The museum, comprised of a 19th century village, Gallery of Sporting Art
and a Nature Center, is America's third largest living history museum.
Of the 57 historically significant structures, my favorite is the dim, smokey
pioneer log cabin. I'm fascinated by the calico-garbed pioneer woman stirring
the fragrant contents of an iron kettle hung above an open fire on the cabin
floor. How does she manage not to catch her skirt on fire?
This cabin, like all other village and farm structures, has been moved from
its original location in the Genesee Country, restored and furnished to
reflect the history, beauty and tradition of the Genesee Valley.
Fascinated as I am by the log house, I feel comfortable at the other extreme-in
the elaborate Victorian homes with their state-of-the-art kitchens and meticulous
formal gardens. Like me, you might try to guess what some of those zany
kitchen gadgets accomplished.
I'm a bit more subdued in The Gallery of Sporting Art, where French noblemen,
English squires and American huntsmen chase across canvasses depicting action-packed-and
sometimes gory- hunt scenes.
Once I get into an art gallery-which isn't that often-I like to inspect
each piece. The Sporting Art Gallery, with its western American and African
art, works of wildlife artists like Audubon and Tunnicliffe, and special
watercolor gallery, is not a disappointment, even to a layperson.
A genuine treat is the Trotting Horse Gallery, filled with oil paintings,
sculptures and lithographs that recall the pomp and excitement of American
trotting at the turn of the century.
I like to take my family to the Nature Center, although I have not quite
hiked the 175 acres of public nature trails. The 200-acre wildlife refuge
is off limits to two-legged critters.
Large glacial boulders dot woods and fields, and fossilized rocks litter
the ground. A unique collection of lime-loving plants are found, including
chinquapin oak, wild columbine and walking fern.
I like birds (outside) and have been trying to get bluebirds into my yard
for years. The Nature Center manages 120 bluebird nesting boxes on museum
grounds, and assists in the raising of 50-100 young bluebirds each year.
Special events make each trip to Genesee Country Museum unique. My favorites
are the Morgan Horse Show and the Goat Show. Yes, goats. They're very curious
and affectionate-at least from their side of the fence.
I've been trying to get to the Civil War Enactment for years...and then
there's Bagpipe Weekend...
If you can't accept my opinion that Genesee Country Museum is a many faceted
regional treasure, come see for yourself. Come for the history.
If you go: Genesee Country Museum, Flint Hill Road, Mumford; 20 miles
southwest of Rochester. 716-538-6822. Book stores. Gift shop. Open mid-May-mid-October;
10 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday & Sunday in
the spring and fall; 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday, July 4th through Labor
Day.
Georgia Mullen is editor of Genesee Country.
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