Museum Village of Old Smith’s Clove was the brainchild of Roscoe Smith, an electrical engineer whose credits include the creation of what is known today as Orange & Rockland Utilities. The philanthropist was a firm believer in preserving history, which resulted in the creation of Museum Village in Orange County.
The replica of a 19th century village has educated generations of children from the Hudson Valley and tri-state area about American history and culture before the birth of the automobile. It has also brought a bit of the region’s ancient past to the public, as evidenced by the skeletal remains of a prehistoric mastodon, nicknamed Harry, discovered nearby in 1952 and painstakingly reassembled and housed on the museum grounds.
Today, the cultural site is surrounded by a burst of development from a bordering municipality currently seeking to annex its 32 acres for development. Both the town of Monroe and county government are pursuing ways to purchase the property to preserve its legacy and its extraordinary collection of over 30,000 artifacts, as well as the buildings that house them.
Executive Director Jamie Robinson said, “We are facing incredibly difficult times post-Covid all over the country, but certainly in this state…we’ve had some positive support from a small portion of the community. Two grants we received from Sen. James Skoufis totaling $155K have helped, but they cannot be applied to operations. Museums serve in ways beyond what other cultural entities deliver. National surveys have demonstrated that museums are our most trusted civic institutions.” Robinson encouraged people to step forward and donate money, time and/or services, including electricians, plumbers and carpenters to help keep a piece of living history from becoming paved for a parking lot.
