Welcome to the Voorheesville Public Library
Archives and Local History Collections
Community members share their life stories in this special grant project. Click on individual names to hear the interviews recorded by local teens and long-term residents of Voorheesville.
Uncover Voorheesville's past through research materials in the Library Archives and Local History Collections. Get started by reviewing the links below. Some links take you to online sources and most take you to finding aids. A finding aid is a description of an archival or local history collection, often containing a history of the person or organization that created the collection and an itemized list of its contents. Take a look at the finding aid to the collection(s) that interests you!
Our Archives and Local History Collections are located in the main library, the Community Room, and on the mezzanine. For material located in the Community Room and on the mezzanine, and to make the best use of your time as well as insure that the collections you wish to see and the archivist are available, please contact us before you visit. Thanks
Read the conversational narrative below or take the express link to Historical Material by Format.
Take a look at the list of books (RSS feed) by local authors about life in this village on the edge of the Helderberg escarpment and beyond. Need additional information? Expand your search by using a keyword in our library catalog.
Trace land ownership using the Bell Family (pdf) and Van Rensselaer (pdf) manuscript collections dating from the 18th century.
Listen to an unedited oral history interview with Grover and Olive Kling (audio file), owners of the tract of land known as the Van Bael Patent of the Rensselaer Patroonship as they reminisce about life in Voorheesville. Take a driving tour with Grover Kling and learn about the local farms.
Read letters from local World War II soldiers in the Smith Family Papers (pdf). Listen to the voice of one veteran, Eugene "Gene" Sickles and his sister, the late Ruth Ulion describe their experiences living in Voorheesville.
Peruse the written memoir of Katherine Denegar (pdf), World War II Army Nurse stationed in the Pacific theater.
Hear the late Frieda Saddlemire, teacher, librarian, and Knox Town Historian, recall her family's immigration from Germany to the United States, her childhood which includes an account of her mother's survival of the 1918 flu pandemic, her education, careers, family, and travel.
Using newspaper accounts, photographs, letters, and ephemera compiled by the late Howard C. Coughtry, master carpenter and scoutmaster, follow the adventures and civic achievements of local Boy Scout Troop 73 (pdf) from its beginnings in 1920 under the leadership of Scoutmaster Clayton A. Bouton up to 2002.
Page through the American Legion Auxiliary, Unit 1493's (pdf) scrapbook and see classic candid photographs of Memorial Day parades and Christmas parties ca. 1930-1970.
Understand the role the library plays in building community by browsing the Small Town at the Millennium scrapbook housed in the Library of the Year Nominations, 1994, 1998 (pdf) collection.
See the library and community come together in the Village of Voorheesville Centennial Celebration 1899-1999 (pdf) collection.
View photographs and read a log book about the community literally moving the library from its former location to its present location in the "We Made the Move! 1989" (pdf) collection. Watch a slideshow of the construction and move.
Enjoy Voorheesville Public Library on YouTube by viewing a teen writers club short and a promotional video.
Interested in genealogy and history? Take a look at our list of Recommended Web Sites.
We are always "growing" VPL's Local History Collections so please consider donating your family's papers or your organizational records and contact us.
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