Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH)

06/09/2026

Join our friends and colleagues next week for special events in honor of Juneteenth. Learn more below!

JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION IN THE NORTH COUNTRY

Three days of celebrations will be held to mark the 2026 national Juneteenth holiday in Clinton and Essex counties, which were hotbeds of abolitionism during a transforming time in American history. Juneteenth National Independence Day celebrates the final end of chattel slavery after the Civil War, when Union troops occupied Galveston, Texas, June 19, 1865.

FRIDAY. The weekend kicks off Friday evening with blues guitarist Solomon Hicks from NYC, at Retro Live, 14 Margaret St. in Plattsburgh.

SATURDAY. A bus tour of Underground Railroad sites leaves from the North Star Underground Railroad Museum, 1131 Mace Chasm Rd, Ausable Chasm, at 10 am. The bus costs $10 for an individual and $20 for a family. Register online at https://northcountryundergroundrailroad.com/. The tour will go from Keeseville/Peru to Beekmantown/Plattsburgh stopping at key sites in the area, including churches involved in the abolitionist struggle and local cemeteries, with reenactors. Among the reenactors will be the great, great grandson of local Underground Railroad leader Stephen Keese Smith. Included in the bus tour is a stop at the Plattsburgh Public Library for a special FREE movie that highlights how the Underground Railroad helped a Union soldier get home after he ended up in a Confederate prison. That movie starts at 1:30 pm. The bus will return to the North Star Museum at 4:00 pm.

Also on tap is an art exhibit – “What Remains: Voices from the Margins of History” – followed by a reception at the SUNY Plattsburgh Art Museum, Myers Fine Arts Building, 101 Broad St. This FREE event will be from 5 to 7 p.m.

SUNDAY at noon the celebrations move to the John Brown Farm in North Elba for a family themed fair. Highlights include a concert featuring the well-known Adirondack group, Jamcrackers. Also, the Praise Tabernacle Dancers will perform and there will be a recitation of John Brown’s final speech at his gravesite. All events Sunday at the John Brown Farm are FREE.

Activities will also include children’s games and the presentation of the annual Colors of Freedom Award. Food will be available for purchase from the Dogfather Food Truck of Plattsburgh. ($10 adults, $7 children.)

John Brown’s final speech was a farewell address delivered to the Virginia court as he was sentenced to be hanged for leading the raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859. His body was then transported back to the farm in North Elba for burial.

The Juneteenth events are sponsored and organized by a network of organizations in the North Country, including the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association, Clinton County Historical Association., John Brown Farm State Historic Site, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, John Brown Lives, the Adirondack History Museum, Plattsburgh Public Library, Essex County Arts Council, Paul Smiths College and the SUNY Plattsburgh Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center and Art Museum.

Details on all the events can be found at:
https://www.northcountryundergroundrailroad.com/forms/web/cof.php

For more information contact:
Jackie Madison, North Country Underground Railroad Historical Assn.
Helen Nerska, Clinton County Historical Assn. [email protected]
Peter Slocum, Adirondack History Museum, [email protected]
Cheryl Craft, John Brown Farm. [email protected].

06/02/2026

We are delighted to announce the opening of our new warehouse, Adirondack Architectural Salvage. Join us the weekend of June 19-22 to check out the space and take some treasures home!

Find more info in the post below and follow here on Facebook to stay in the know!

06/01/2026

We are so grateful for AARCH's inclusion in the final New York State budget. The state's investment in Great Camp Santanoni will be leveraged through support from the Town of Newcomb and private donors, and will create safer, more accessible, and more inclusive experiences at our wonderful, publicly-owned National Historic Landmark. AARCH is proud to be part of an Adirondack and statewide coalition that advocates for investment in our natural and cultural resources.

05/29/2026

We are so excited to see our neighbors revitalizing historic buildings through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and NY Forward programs! This investment in North Country communities' historic character represents the type of sustainable development that maintains their authenticity and longevity.

As partners on the Keeseville NY Forward application committee and subsequent Local Planning Committee, we are delighted to see projects ready to take the next step and are particularly eager for the rehabilitation of the Old Stone Mill behind our office and the former Ausable River Masonic Lodge across the street.

Congratulations to all the North Country Downtown Revitalization Initiative and NY Forward recipients! Learn more about the projects here:

Governor Hochul announced awards for a total of 18 transformational projects for the North Country as part of two economic development programs: the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) and NY Forward.

05/28/2026

Did you know you can complete small repairs like replacing a broken window pane yourself? Tradespeople specializing in wood window are often overbooked, so taking on tasks like these can save you time and money.

Here at the AARCH office in Keeseville, we put our skills to use when one of the panes in our own circa 1850 windows broke. Check out our recording of the process: https://youtu.be/wgCMwwjLznY?si=DLLd_Sb2KpmpQ6h5

Happy Preservation Month! 🪟🛠️🏠 Check out our YouTube channel or reach out to us for more hands-on preservation tips.

Glass panes in historic windows can break in any number of ways. Fo...

05/26/2026

Check out some fantastic coverage from Tom French and the Adirondack Explorer highlighting our 2025 Gravestone Restoration Workshop with our good friends at Riegel Restoration!

With more than 600 cemeteries inside the Blue Line, the task of preserving and restoring gravestones is monumental, pun intended.

05/22/2026

Happy Preservation Month! 🪟🛠️🏠 We are continuing to highlight tangible, hands-on ways to preserve the places that you care about.

Gravestone cleaning and maintenance may seem difficult to sketch out, but we promise that it doesn’t have to be! With the right materials, resources, and a helping hand, you can easily take care of issues with gravestones before they become problematic.

Check out this blog post for tips on proper cleaning materials and techniques for taking care of gravestones in your own community: https://aarch.org/gravestone-cleaning

If you'd like to try your hand at introductory woodworking or other traditional trades, check out the Current Tours & Workshops: https://aarch.org/adventure/first-come

Gravestones are a tangible link to those who came before us – they memorialize peoples’ lives and offer a place for people to pay their respects. Furthermore, the information they record provides a wealth of historical data. However, maintaining these...

05/14/2026

Get out and celebrate The New York Landmarks Conservancy's Sacred Sites Open House this weekend!

On May 16-17, over 100 sacred sites across New York State will open their doors for visitors to explore their beautiful art, architecture, and history. This year's theme is “Holding Community Memories,” and participating congregations will showcase their buildings and histories through guided tours, lectures, musical performances, and opening their archives.

Here are the North Country sites participating this year:

• Grace Episcopal Church, Canton
• Church of the Messiah, Glens Falls
• First Presbyterian Church Gouverneur
• Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, Malone
• Harkness United Methodist Church, Peru
• Plattsburgh United Methodist Church

Learn more:

Our 16th annual Sacred Sites Open House will take place May 16-17th 2026. Our theme is “Holding Community Memories,” and participating congregations will showcase their buildings and histories through guided tours, lectures, musical performances, and opening their archives. To sign up your site ...