The Webster Museum - Webster, New York

Thursday Closures

The museum will be closed on Thursday, August 11 and August 18 to accommodate repairs to our ceiling. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Webster Museum Barn Sale

Your donations would be greatly appreciated.

Donotions are being accepted through September 5th. Items may be dropped off at the barn (394 Phillips Rd.) Receipts are available.

We welcome household goods, tools, pottery, collections, music, games, etc. Easily portable items preferred.

We cannot accept large furniture, clothing, shoes, computers, exercise equipment or skis.

A look at the history of the toys and games that have helped shape how we play.

Webster High School Faculty 1922

Webster High School Faculty of 1922

100 years ago, Webster was in the midst of a few growing pains. With a national emphasis on education, school districts were scrambling to improve their facilities and attract qualified teachers. Webster was a small school district and found itself competing against more established districts for staff. Within 2 years of this photo being taken, all but 5 of the female faculty pictured had left Webster for positions with other districts. (Khan Musa, the school's lone male teacher remained until the summer of 1927.)

The 5 teachers that remained were in Webster to stay.

Mary Knight graduated from Geneseo Normal School in 1886 and taught in Pittsburgh, PA and Johnstown NY, before arriving at a one room schoolhouse in Webster. In 1904 Knight moved up to Webster High School where she would remain for the next 35 years. Miss Knight lived on Lapham Park in the village.

Marie Stone taught Latin at Webster High School for 43 years. Caesar met his end in Stone's classroom each March 15th of those 43 years. Latin met its end soon after. Miss Stone lived on Dunning Avenue for most of her life.

Blanche Parshall grew up in Greenwood, NY which is south of Hornell. She taught in Greenwood before moving to Webster where she taught mathematics and was the junior preceptress of Webster High School for many years. She lived on Lapham Park and Park Avenue with her sister and let rooms to fellow teachers. When she wasn't teaching, Miss Parshall could be found playing the organ at several local churches.

Elizabeth Gaffney taught 1st grade at Webster High School for many years. In 1953 she ran for the then elected position of "School Director", but lost by 2 votes. She was married to Thomas Gaffney, who was the Webster Town Historian prior to Esther Dunn.

Agnes Klaver was the daughter of George Shoemaker and Elizabeth Herman and grew up in Webster. She taught in West Webster for 6 years before moving to Webster High School to teach 2nd grade in the fall of 1921. During the summer of 1921 she married Herman Klaver and took up residence on Ridge Road. She retired from teaching in 1930 to raise her own children.

The individual portrait photos are from the 1936 yearbook, with the exception of Agnes Klaver's photo which is from the 1930 yearbook. Can you spot them in the 1922 group photo?

RobynPalooza Golf Tourney

The 11th RobynPalooza Golf tourney will benefit numerous charities, both locally and around the globe. This year's recipients include: Eagle Star Housing, HUGS, The Margaret House, and The Webster Museum, plus Rotary Charities like Adopt a Platoon, the Open Door Mission, and Shelter Box.

Registration forms are available at Beyond Cuts Salon and the Webster Museum.

See what's cooking!

See what's cooking in Happy Dan's kitchen.

DINGLE-DANGLE

a. Hanging loosely, or something dangling.

Randomly generated oft-forgotten words from Webster's 1828 dictionary.
Visit our Random Portmanteau page!

The Webster Walkabout Adventure Lab

The Webster Walkabout Adventure Lab will take you on a walking tour of some of the historical locations in the Village of Webster. This adventure is kid-friendly and handicap-accessible. Please stay on sidewalks throughout your journey.

You will be guided on a walking tour of the Village of Webster, NY, visiting five sites of historic significance to the founding of the Village of Webster. Your walking tour will take you on a 1.5 mile walk and will take about an hour to complete.

In order to play the Adventure Lab, you need a smart phone, with the Adventure Lab mobile app installed. The app works with both iOS (iPhones) and Android phones. You must have a free account on geocaching.com and you must also have a data plan and cell service. The Adventure Lab mobile app is a multi-media, interactive app.

To open this adventure in the Adventure Lab mobile app, use the following URL: labs.geocaching.com/goto/WEBSTER

Once you complete the Adventure Lab, you will be given a code to unlock a special bonus puzzle geocache located at the Webster Museum, located at 18 Lapham Park, Webster, NY.

To find out more about geocaching, go to www.geocaching.com

A Virtual Tour

With Doreen and Laureen from the Webster Public Library and Sharon Pratt of the Webster Museum.

National Hamburger Month

OK, we may be a little biased, but there can't be too many cities with a tastier relationship with the hamburger than Rochester. Imagine heading out for a hamburger and only having the choice of McDonald's, Burger King or if you're lucky Wendy's. Here in Webster, we have Bill Gray's, Charlie's and when the bridge is open, Don's Original. Each restaurant with its own story and connection to the Webster community. Take a look at our little timeline of Rochester Hamburger history.

The Webster Basket Factory

Don Kittelberger who worked at the Webster Basket Factory for many years, was kind enough to stop by the Webster Museum to share some of his knowledge of baskets and the Webster Basket Factory with our museum volunteers.

Night at the Museum

Our new nightly look, with thanks to Allan Electric. (Photos courtesy of Lynn Barton.)

World War Two

The beginnings of a page honoring the all too numerous Webster residents who lost their lives fighting for our country during World War Two.

Dear Webster Museum

A selection of letters sent to the museum following student visits.

The Cunningham Automobile

100 years ago it was possible to buy an automobile that was built in Rochester, NY. Possible, but expensive. James Cunningham, Son and Company produced some of the most expensive vehicles available at the time. The Cunningham Automobile was a handmade, high performance vehicle that rivaled the likes of Rolls Royce.

Cunningham's clients included Cecil B. De Mille, George Eastman, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Marshall Field, William Randolph Hearst, Harold Lloyd, Mary Pickford, and the Wrigley brothers.

A small glance at the Civil War

New to the Webster Museum

Thanks to the many talents of Tom Pellett, the museum now has a miniature diorama portraying a battle during the American Civil War.