A Farm, A Family, A Legacy
Tracing 200 Years at Birge Hill Farm
Farms have been the heart of Columbia County’s economy and culture throughout its history. One of these was Birge Hill Farm, established in 1785 by Hosea Birge, a Revolutionary War veteran who settled in Chatham, N.Y., in the early years of the republic. Here and on other small farms, families and neighbors worked cheek by jowl to sustain their small, tightly woven communities, until vast changes in technology, industry and society forever altered their rural way of life.
CCHS Museum & Library
5 Albany Avenue, Kinderhook, NY
Friday – Saturday 11am-4pm
Admission: $5 for non-members, free for students, active military & family with current ID, and CCHS members
This exhibition presents highlights from the Birge Family Collection, donated to the Columbia County Historical Society by Hosea’s fourth great-grandson, Van Calhoun, and Van’s wife, Susan Senecah. The expansive collection comprises more than 200 objects, preserved by family members with remarkable foresight and care over eight generations. In their stories, we see the evolution of farm and family life in Columbia County, New York and America.