Dyckman

Personal Note

Dyckman — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:38:21 GMT

TO THE EX-NEIGHBORHOOD KID:
Thank you, our history is so important. The arrival was timely and the wrong has been righted with great appreciation.

Bike Rack Arrives!

Dyckman — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:24:22 GMT

Thanks to the New York City Department of Transportation CityRacks program, visitors to the farmhouse who arrive by bicycle now have a spot to park their bike. A bike rack was recently installed on 204th Street near Broadway. We hope our biking visitors will take advantage of the rack!

Spring

Dyckman — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 19:47:47 GMT

FIRST CROCUS EMERGES . . . . . and then is eaten by a squirrel.

For one, brief moment spring emerged at Dyckman Farmhouse with the blooming of our first crocus. Although the yellow blossom was quite promptly claimed by a squirrel as a tasty snack it does mean that more and more green shoots will start appearing around the garden. In the fall we planted over 1,000 new bulbs so once again it should be a lovely spring. Make sure to visit the garden soon - particularly in April and May when our daffodils are usually at their finest.

Winter at the Farmhouse

Dyckman — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 23:55:26 GMT

Scene Setting
If you visit the farmhouse this winter, you will see a few more "scenes" have been set in our continuing effort towards interpretation. The items include both reproduction items such as a shawl in the parlor and a cloak in the winter kitchen to the return of some original collection pieces such as a tea set and porcelein decorative items. Staff was also busy creating some special items such as pea soup in the kitchen (definitely not edible) and candles for the rooms.

We continue to research to learn more about how the family would have lived in the farmhouse in the early 19th century. We discovered through newspaper accounts that the winter of 1819-1820 was a particular harsh one, with several snow storms hitting the area between Christmas and mid-January. Perhaps a bit hard to imagine in our current warm weather spell!

New Addition

Dyckman — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:13:50 GMT

New Addition
In our continuing efforts at interpretation at Dyckman Farmhouse, we have a new addition to the upstairs bedroom. The interpretation in this bedroom focuses on 1916, when the farmhouse museum was created. We have been working to replicate many of the textiles that would have originally been in that space.

This week we installed a reproduction slipcover on the wing chair in the room. Come to the farmhouse this week to see the results.

If you come by toward the end of the week you can also see the reproduction quilt which was recently finished (see the previous post).

REQUEST FOR PHOTOGRAPHS

Dyckman — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 21:25:47 GMT

Did you visit the Dyckman Farmhouse BEFORE 1988 and take a picture of the Relic Room?
The Relic Room, or the Reginald Pelham Bolton Collection, was an exhibit that was first installed in the farmhouse in 1916 and contained numerous archaeological objects discovered in the neighborhood. Many visitors miss that exhibit and remember in detail the artifacts that were displayed. We are hoping that if you were one of those visitors who loved the Relic Room that you or your friends or family captured it on film and would be willing to share the photos with us.

We are currently surveying the collection (see a previous post) and will be raising funds to install a new exhibit. As part of our documentation we are looking for photos of the space taken BEFORE 1988.

Photos may be submitted to us via regular mail or email -- please make sure you include your contact information, when the picture was taken and any memories you have about the Relic Room.

Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
4881 Broadway at 204th Street New York, NY 10034
212.304.9422
info@dyckmanfarmhouse.org

RELICS

Dyckman — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 10:11:05 GMT

REDISCOVERING THE RELICS
One of our exciting projects this summer has been an extensive survey of the Reginald Pelham Bolton Archaeological Collection, commonly known as the Relic Room Collection. When the museum first opened in 1916 one of the spaces was dedicated to an exhibit of archaeological objects that had been discovered by Reginald Pelham Bolton and others in the late 19th and early 20th century. At that time, streets were being cut through, the subway was being planned and major development was looming. Amateur archaeologists and historians such as Bolton did frequent digs in Northern Manhattan and discovered Native American, Colonial and Revolutionary War era artifacts.

There has never been a thorough survey of the Bolton era objects at Dyckman Farmhouse Museum. We were fortunate to get a group of talented students from New York University to work on the project this summer. So far we are at over 3,000 objects and there are still more to go. Many are shards of pipes and pottery, but there are many complete objects such as bullet molds, grapeshot, ice creepers, buttons and tools. Some objects, such as the mug pictured above, were pieced back together in 1916.

The project has yielded some wonderful information, but also many questions as well and we are hoping to piece together the complex story of the digs and the objects we have in our collection. If you grew up in the neighborhood and any of your relatives were involved in the original digs we would love to hear from you!

August at the Farmhouse

Dyckman — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:05:12 GMT

Farmhouse Closures in August

August, usually a quiet (and very, very hot) month at the farmhouse will actually be busy as we work to complete a number of projects. Because of the heat and the number of projects we will be working on, the farmhouse will only be open for weekends in August. Please check in with us if you plan to visit to confirm those hours.

We are sorry for the inconvenience, but hope that the projects that we will accomplish will more than compensate:

In the garden we will be adding a safety rail along our steep embankment, new benches in our seating area, and new brick edging and pebble paths in the formal garden. Thanks to the work of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the Historic House Trust of New York City we hope to have all of this work completed by early Fall.

On the interior we have been working on a full survey of the archaeological collection that was originally installed in our Relic Room. More about this project in the next posting - including pictures of some very interesting findings.

Chimney Completed

Dyckman — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:53:00 GMT

Work on the restoration of the north chimney has been completed and the scaffolding has been removed. Our local squirrels and birds are a bit disappointed as they enjoyed some extra perching space, but visitors will be happy that our seating area is once more fully accessible.

Scaffolding

Dyckman — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:00:00 GMT

You may have noticed that scaffolding appeared on the north facade of the farmhouse this weekend. A long planned restoration of the north chimney has just begun today. The other two chimneys on site were restored over the last several years, so with the completion of this project all of our chimneys will be in good shape.

During the restoration project a small portion of the site surrounding the chimney will be closed off to visitors, but we hope this will just be a short inconvenience. Work is expected to be completed by next week.

WHAT IS THAT?

Dyckman — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 14:32:45 GMT

Sharp eyed visitors frequently ask us about this rectangular patch in the staircase leading to our Relic Room. We've had some wild guesses and we have encouraged children to use their imaginations -- people have guessed everything from a trapdoor to a safe for the Dyckman fortune.

Alas, perhaps it is not quite as excting as undiscovered fortune, but it does have a story to tell. We ask visitors not to try and force the patch out (PLEASE!) since too many hands can damage historic fabric. Instead, the photo below shows you what is behind the patch.

ANY GUESSES?

DYCKMAN QUILT

Dyckman — Mon, 14 May 2007 21:50:58 GMT

Dyckman staff are very excited about a new collaboration with the wonderful quilters at the New York area group, Empire Quilters, Inc.

In 1916, when Dyckman Farmhouse first opened as a museum, a lovely quilt was acquired for display. We don't know who originally made the quilt or donated it to the early museum. Photographs taken around this time show it on display in the southeast bedroom on the second floor. The quilt, an oak leaf and reel pattern, is still owned by the museum, but its fragile condition means that we can't have it on permanent display.

To the rescue come members of Empire Quilters - these talented women are creating a new quilt for the farmhouse based on the original pattern. Over the next month, individual quilters will be busy working on the 20 blocks needed to make up the full quilt. Check back for updates on the work and the date for details on the fall unveiling of the completed project.

Visit the Empire Quilter's website for more information on their many fine projects.

The original quilt pattern is shown at the top of the image, and the new fabrics which are being used are on the bottom.

Changes at the Farmhouse

Dyckman — Thu, 10 May 2007 11:03:36 GMT

Welcome to the first blog entry for Dyckman Farmhouse Museum!

The Dyckman Farmhouse was built c. 1784 and opened as a museum in 1916 and has long been an important part of the Northern Manhattan community. The farmhouse was closed for restoration in 2003 and re-opened in November 2005. We continue to work on many projects such as researching family and neighborhood history, caring for and returning collection pieces and bringing the gardens back to life.

So many wonderful things are happening at the farmhouse that we hope this blog keeps everyone connected.

Entries will share:

Fascinating history we have uncovered

Curiosities from our collection

Garden updates on recent planting projects and what is blooming

The excitement for today -- our very first roses of the summer have begun to bloom.