We’re been posting images of unusual implements to our facebook page in conjunction with our current “What is it?” museum exhibit.
The Goodell Bonanza Apple Peeler Corer was created by David H. Goodell whose Goodell company produce a variety of devices to aid in the processing apples and other fruits. Goodell became the Governor of Hew Hampshire in 1889.
Today is Tomorrow’s Yesterday
If history helps connects us to the past, then in a way it also helps connect us to the future. Today is tomorrow’s yesterday.
Despite decades of research done by our museum volunteers, there are still countless stories to be unearthed and told about the people, places, and events that have helped make our little community what it is today.
We love sharing those stories with you through our exhibits, school visits and tours, speakers and presentations, our website, and even a few new-fangled ways of communicating.
No one here is working for peanuts. (Well, except Chip.) We are volunteers and work for the love of history and the pleasure of sharing Webster’s story with you.
There is still no admission charge to visit the Webster Museum.
We rely on the kindness of our neighbors and friends to assist us in keeping the doors of the Webster Museum open.
In the earliest days when lakes, streams, and rivers served as highways through the wilderness, the nation that ruled the mouth of the Oswego River dominated North America. The convergence of the Oswego and Lake Ontario was a key point on the most navigable water route from the east into the interior of the continent. It was there that Fort Ontario was built. Just as quickly, however, the fort was destroyed, as competing armies seized control of this valuable point. Time after time the fort was rebuilt, and over the years it acquired a history as unique as its location. Fort Ontario: Guardian of the North is the first history of this remarkable and resilient fort, credited with being the oldest continuously garrisoned post in the United States. The book chronicles the many transformations of Fort Ontario from the time it was built in 1755 up to its present-day status as a New York State Historic Site. With paintings, maps, photographs, and informative text, the book brings back the fort's years as a company post, its World War I role as a major army hospital, and its World War II years as a shelter for Jews fleeing the Holocaust--the only wartime refugee shelter in the history of the United States.
Near the shores of Lake Ontario lie Parma, Hilton, and several other pioneer communities once connected by Indian trails. Parma was named in honor of the Italian city and province of the same name and Hilton village, once known as North Parma, was renamed after Rev. Charles A. Hilton, a Civil War veteran and Baptist minister. Before the Civil War, the area was known as the Nation's Breadbasket. It became a leading fruit production center near the end of the 19th century and attracted immigrants from around the world. Parma and Hilton uses images from throughout the century to illustrate the pioneer times, the development of government, life on the waterfront, transportation and communication,
schools and churches, business and industry, and festive days of celebration.