The Best Kept Secret in Cortland County

By Tabitha Scoville, Cortland County Historical Society Director

The Cortland County Historical Society was founded in 1925 and yet it is the best kept secret in the county! Our mission is to collect, preserve, and share the history of Cortland County, and we do this through our museum and research center. The Suggett House Museum, which was the home of the James Suggett family from the 1880s through the 1930s, showcases furnishings and artifacts from families who lived in our county from 1825-1890. There are so many fascinating things to see! The Kellogg Memorial Research Center is where the magic of discovery begins! This is where we find the information to tell the stories of people, businesses, homes, and events from the past. We have diaries, letters, photographs, vital statistics, family files and genealogies as well as census, cemetery, town, church, and school records. This list barely scratches the surface of what is stored within the research center! 

On March 17, 2020, we began to post daily to Facebook due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have featured hundreds of photos, artifacts, and stories from Cortland County’s past (and present), and we will be continuing to post frequently in 2021. You can see something new at least every other day! Perhaps we will share a story about your ancestors, and you will be inspired to learn more about your family tree. Genealogical research is one of our specialties and we can help you with your research! This is a great way on how to find adopted siblings, too.

Because of the pandemic, CCHS is currently closed to visitors. Because of this, we have been offering distance research instead. There is a fee for this service, but if you are a member of CCHS, the fee is waived. If you are interested in learning about your roots in Cortland County, give us a call at 607-756-6071 or send your request to us at info@cortlandhistory.org. 

We will continue to share artifacts and stories virtually in 2021, but you can also expect to see a new children’s history discovery center at CCHS this year! We are currently working on an interactive and fun place where kids will be able to learn about Cortland County’s past. The opening will be dependent on the pandemic, but we are looking forward to offering this exciting new opportunity for kids.

As we continue to navigate our way through this new way of life, we will also be trying to develop some virtual programs, so stay tuned. We miss having folks come in for our popular Lunch & Learn programs and workshops, and we are looking at ways to resurrect them as a virtual experience. In the meantime, you can find our past programs on our YouTube channel (Cortland County Historical Society). Be sure to find us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for now, and we hope to see you sometime in 2021!