Finding Us
The Herman Melville House is the headquarters of the Lansingburgh Historical Society. The first floor contains two connected parlors which are used for meeting and display. They are furnished with pieces from local historic homes. There is a doll house, a box which once held letters exchanged between the Melville and Gansevoort family members, a book collection, and items (photos, art works, models, tin ware, etc.) related to Lansingburgh people and industries. The third floor has a collection of artifacts from the brick, brush, and rope making industries along with street signs, toys, tools, and various other items from Lansingburgh’s past. Across First Avenue is Melville Park, once the site of ship building and a carpenter shop. (Detailed Directions HERE)
The "Old House"
(see below for a brief history of this Lansingburgh gem)
Welcome to our new website. All Historical Society Events will be posted in the Events page under “Get Involved”, in the top menu bar. Our old website can still be accessed HERE. This will go offline in the early Spring of 2026. All of the LHS archives have now been transferred onto this new site. This material appears in the “About Us” and the two alphabetized "“Archives” dropdowns at the top of this page. Not all the archive links have been made. We are looking at nearly 600 files that are richly cross-linked. The “In The News” blog section is complete and now located at the top of this page. The resources in this are extensive and well worth browsing. We hope this will encourage your interest in the history of Lansingburgh, and interest in joining our society.
The Old House (pictured above) Michael Barrett provides this bit of history. “580 First Avenue. Identified as “the old house” on Lansing’s original map, this c. 1720 building is the oldest known building in Lansingburgh. Noted for it’s Dutch gambrel roof over 1 1/2 stories, rather than the 2 1/2 story style of the later 18th century."
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this photo is of One of our neighbors on 114th street
Who is Who at the Society
OFFICERS
President – John Ward
Vice President – Mary Ellen Ward
Treasurer – Beth Roy
Assistant Treasurer – Sue Busta
Recording Secretary – Kathy Fomuk
Corresponding Secretary – Kathy Fomuk
TRUSTEES
Elected 2015
Michael Barrett
Sue Busta
Pat Dorow
Byron Moak
John Ward
Mary Ellen Ward
Elected 2016
Kathy Fomuk
Elected 2017
Heidi Klinowski
Elected 2018
Mary Ellen Kelleher
Elected 2019
Beth Roy
Elected 2023
Kay Derosa