Holland Land Office Museum

Press release:

The Holland Land Office Museum reopens to the public today, June 26, at its normal business hours. The museum will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The museum will be reopening with some noticeable changes.

Firstly, the museum is implementing its Safety Plan, which requires all visitors to the museum to wear masks and admission will be limited to 10 at a time. Also, visitors are asked to refrain from touching any of the artifacts and cases, and to follow our “one way” floor plan. Visitors are also asked to maintain the 6 foot social distancing protocol and to use the hand sanitizer and washing stations around the museum.

Secondly, the museum is reopening under a new admission policy. Visitors to the museum will now have to pay an admission fee. The ranges include: Free for Museum Members, $1 for Children, $3 for Students/Veterans/Seniors, $5 for Adults, and $10 for a Family of four.

The HLOM is instituting a strict cleaning procedure to ensure the safety of our staff, volunteers, and visitors, but wishes everyone to come by and visit us and see all our treasures of the history of Genesee County.

Thank you to all who have supported us in the past, through this difficult time, and continue to into the future. 

If you have any questions please contact the museum by phone at (585) 343-4727 or email at hollandlandoffice@gmail.com. Information can also be found on our website, hollandlandoffice.com, or our Facebook page.

Press release:

The Holland Land Office Museum will be administering a change in its admission policy for visitors to the museum upon its opening in the coming weeks.

The museum’s new admission policy will be as follows:

• Free for Members;
• $1 for Children;
• $3 for Students, Veterans, and Seniors;
• $5 for Adults;
• $10 for Family of two adults and two children.

​This policy is a change from previously when admission was based on a suggested donation.

The Board and the Executive Director did not take this decision lightly, but it was deemed as a necessity for the museum to continue serving the people of Genesee County and Western New York.

The museum will remain committed to carrying out its mission of preserving the living history of Genesee County for the future, in an educational, entertaining, and inclusive way.

Everyone at the museum would like to thank those who have supported us in the past, through this difficult time, and into the future. We look forward to seeing both old and new faces walking through the door again very soon.

If you have any questions, please contact Director Ryan Duffy at (585) 343-4727 or email: hollandlandoffice@gmail.com

Information can also be found at the museum’s website.

Press release:

Have you ever wondered how Genesee County came to be? What was the Holland Land Purchase? What is a Gibbet? If any of these questions peak your curiosity among many others, then volunteering at the Holland Land Office might be perfect for you.

The museum is reaching out to anyone with an interest in local history who would like to volunteer. Any amount of time that can be given is welcome, even an hour a week can make a great difference.

Volunteers can work in many different areas, and interests and strengths will be used to the most optimum affect.

Areas of need include: cleaning, gift shop, docent/tour guide, documenting of artifacts, exhibits and displays, landscaping, etc.

Volunteer hours would be during the normal hours of operation of the museum are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

If you have an interest in volunteering with the Holland Land Office Museum, please contact Director Ryan Duffy at (585) 343-4727 or email him at:   hollandlandoffice@gmail.com

Information can also be found at the museum’s website.

Press release:

The Holland Land Office Museum plans to reopen when New York State guidelines allow with limited admission and mandatory coronavirus protocols.

We have been following the guidelines set forth by the CDC and the State of New York.

Executive Director Ryan Duffy and the Board of Directors have also obtained the assistance of T&L Cleaning Service, a locally owned professional cleaning service to advise us on a cleaning protocol and usage of effective products to keep our visitors and staff safe during this crisis.

T&L Cleaning has donated their services to our museum during this time. 

The museum we closed will not be the same museum we reopen.

• Visitors will be required to wear masks;
• Admission will be limited to no more than 10 at a time;
• HLOM is planning a “low touch” or “no touch” experience for visitors;
• The museum will have a newly designed “one way” floor plan with into and out of “pinch points” in its floor layout.

These measures are “a work in progress” and will obviously evolve as our nation continues to deal with this crisis.

We ask for cooperation understanding as we make this transition, as it will be a change for everyone.

The museum looks forward to welcoming old and new faces back with open arms, figuratively speaking, as we continue to exhibit the living history of Genesee County and Holland Land Purchase.

From the Holland Land Office Museum:

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, on May 5, 2020, people around the world are coming together for #GivingTuesdayNow to give back to their communities and valued organizations in many different ways. The Holland Land Office Museum will be one of those participating cultural organizations and we need your help!

By joining the #GivingTuesdayNow movement, you’re proving that in times of uncertainty, generosity can bring the whole world together. As regular sources of funding become less reliable, we must look to other avenues to make our way through these difficult times.

We are joining this movement to ask for support from our friends and community in order to continue our mission to educate and preserve the local history of Genesee County and the development of Western New York through the history of the Holland Land Company.

Here is how you can help:

On May 5, go to www.hollandlandoffice.com or our Facebook page and donate.

This support will go toward many different areas:

• The continued operation of the museum and maintaining of our staff.
• The continuance of our programming both virtual and in public once it is safe to do so. These programs include: History Heroes Kids Summer Camp, Saturday Morning Children’s Program, Guest Speaker & Concert Series, Java with Joe E., and Trivia Nights.
• The development of exhibits and exhibitions.
• The preservation and conservation of the museum’s collection of more than 20,000 artifacts.
• The efforts currently under way to rebuild and restore the two 19^th century military cannons featured on the museum’s front portico.

You can also support our organization in these ways:

• Follow -- Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and invite your friends to do the same.
• Spread the word -- Encourage your friends and family to join you in creating a real impact on May 5th by sharing what our mission means to you and why you support our organization. Make sure to use the hashtag #GivingTuesdayNow.

Learn more at www.hollandlandoffice.com as well as our social media platforms.

Thank you for your support during this challenging time.

Ryan Duffy, Director, Holland Land Office Museum

Because the Holland Land Office Museum can't hold its Saturday Morning Children's Program nowadays it's putting information online about the activities scheduled.

This month, the topic is covered wagons.

This link shows a materials list and step-by-step instructions with photos so kids can make their very own covered wagon, like the one above from the HLOM website.

You'll need:

• Popsicle sticks
• Skill sticks
• Brown paper bag or scrap fabric
• Cardboard
• Hot glue or wood glue

HLOM and its supporters would love to see pictures of all the homemade covered wagons that families make and ask that you email pictures to the museum and/or share pictures on social media.

Editor's Note: Suggested musical accompaniment -- Jimmie Driftwood singing "First Covered Wagon."

A Batavia author has penned a paean to The Stumblin' Inn in Elba, the storied landmark that burned down two years ago this summer.

Daniel J. Crofts was to speak at the Holland Land Office Museum April 23 about his fictional short story "Ignis Invictus,* a Eulogy for the Stumblin' Inn" as participants noshed pastries and sipped hot coffee during the kaffeeklatsch known as Java with Joe E., cancelled because of coronavirus, naturally.

"I worked in Elba for a little over five years, and had passed by the Inn every day," Crofts said in a recent email. "But it wasn't until reading The Batavian's coverage following the July 2018 fire that I learned just how important it had been to the Elba community.

"I have always been interested in storytelling, and felt that a short story that would function as a sort of memorial for the Stumblin' Inn would be appropriate and, perhaps, welcomed."

Crofts said his tale is about a man from out of the area who drives into Elba, sees the wreck of the Stumblin' Inn (after the fire had occurred but before the debris was cleared), and treats it disrespectfully.

Then he meets a mysterious, supernatural guide (like the ghosts of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," or Virgil from Dante's "The Divine Comedy") who takes him on a journey through the history of the Stumblin' Inn, its predecessors, and Elba in general (insofar as it is relevant to the Inn).

Of course, Crofts' book ($10.50) is stocked at the Holland Land Office Museum, which is temporarily closed because of the pandemic.

HLOM Offers Online Book Sales

It is among a number of intriguing titles in the HLOM bookstore inventory, which are available for purchase online.

Also on the list: "The Story of the Muck as Told By Those Who Worked There," ($12) written by the late William F. Brown Jr., and researched by Anne Marie Starowitz; and "Up South -- Folk Stories Whispered on the Summer Wind and Seen Through the Green Leaves" ($24.99), by Lynda Breckenridge Gaetano; and "Transfiguration and Hope -- A Conversation About Time and Hope" ($21.99) by D. Gregory Van Dussen, about spiritual journeys infinite and eternal, and the power of grace.

There are battlefield maps for purchase and titles about wars and veterans, baseball, the Erie Canal, Buffalo gangsters, Native Americans and pioneers, railroads, Genesee County architecture, haunted places, leading citizens, lore, and WNY amusement park rides.

A tiny brass cannon collectible can be had 10 bucks. It spurs remembrance of the actual cannons that stood outside the museum for more than a century. Last November, those were carefully dismantled and sent to Altoona, Pa., for a $20,000 period-accurate restoration, half paid by the museum and half through funds from an ongoing fundraising campaign called "Ready. Aim. Donate."

And if you need some soap to wash your hands good and clean of COVID-19, the bookstore's online inventory also lists prettily wrapped, handmade goat's milk soap, three cakes for $12, with fragrances such as green tea, rose hip, and lavender mint.

Meanwhile, HLOM is using this time of closure to take stock of its operation and programs and is asking people to complete a survey to help them better serve the community.

(Ignis Invictus is Latin for: Fire or Passion + Invincible or Undefeated, etc.)

Editor's Note: Below is a YouTube video of the Stumblin' Inn fire July 8, 2018, by Elba resident Lucine Kauffman, along with our news partner WBTA:

Also, video of the cannons being loaded for their restoration trip.

Press release from Holland Land Office Museum:

Please visit our website and Facebook page for activities and other fun materials about our local history that we have put together, including our Exhibit Me Program and our own version of Jeopardy.

Also, we have updated our bookstore inventory to our website. Any purchases can be made by contacting the museum or through our Facebook Shop.

As we have been monitoring the situation surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, we have decided to have the museum remain close to the public until further notice. We will also be cancelling our public events as well.

We are continuing to look into possibilities of rescheduling any events that we have had to cancel, which we can hopefully bring to you in the future.

Any updates to our situation will be communicated through our website, Facebook page, and email. Should you have any questions please feel free to contact the museum by phone at 585-343-4727 or by email at hollandlandoffice@gmail.com. 

Thank you for your support and understanding of this decision. We hope for everyone to stay safe and healthy.  

Ryan Duffy

Executive Director

Dear Holland Land Office Museum Supporters:

We at the Holland Land Office Museum have been watching the current circumstances regarding the COVID-19 outbreak. Though we had originally planned to stay open, with the recent updates to the situation within our local community, the Board of Directors and I have decided to close the museum to the public for the recommended two-week period until April 1st.

This closure is in addition to canceling and rescheduling the remainder of events scheduled for the remainder of March.

We will be continually evaluating the situation as April approaches and will keep everyone updated if we decide to cancel or reschedule further events.

Any updates to our situation will be communicated through our website, Facebook page, and email. Should you have any questions please feel free to contact the museum by phone at 585-343-4727 or by email at hollandlandoffice@gmail.com.

Thank you for your support and understanding of this decision. We hope for everyone to stay safe and healthy.

Ryan Duffy

Executive Director

Press release:

Dear Holland Land Office Museum Supporters:

We at the Holland Land Office Museum have been watching the current situation regarding the COVID-19 outbreak. The museum will be staying open during our regular business hours.

We are taking the proper precautionary measures within the museum and have instituted a vigorous cleaning schedule for our facilities and exhibit areas.

We have decided that although we will be staying open we are canceling our events through the rest of March and will be continually evaluating the situation as April approaches.

Furthermore, our Spring Antique Show at Genesee Community College on April 17^th & 18^th has been cancelled, though a search for a new date is underway.

Any other event that is cancelled the museum will be working to reschedule at a later date, so none of us miss out.

We have requested all of our volunteers refrain from coming to the museum until further notice as a precaution. We ask that all visitors adhere to our policy refraining touching the artifacts and display cases, and to use our sanitizing stations throughout the museum.

Any updates to our situation will be communicated through our website, Facebook page, and email.

Should you have any questions please feel free to contact the museum by phone at 585-343-4727 or by email at hollandlandoffice@gmail.com.

Fourth- and fifth-graders at St. Paul Lutheran School are proudly displaying their projects on "Early Colonial Settlements" at the Holland Land Office Museum.

They are the culmination of all they learned on the topic during the two-week lesson plan, which they began before National Lutheran Schools Week, Jan. 26-Feb. 1.

There was no America as we know it now, their teacher Jennifer Dunn explained to them.

Native Americans lived throughout the land. There were settlements by Puritans and Pilgrams from England, and by the Dutch, French and Spanish. Think Roanoke, Jamestown, Cooperstown, Plymouth.

Travel was difficult. Conditions primitive. Why did they take such risks to come here?  How did they live day to day? What did they eat, or wear? What rules governed them?

Besides history, the studies emcompassed English Language Arts, social studies and geography.

Between the drears of winter and the sheer scope of written/verbal information, it seemed to Dunn that her students were getting sort of "overwhelmed" and bogged down by it all, including niggling details: at least four of the key people of the time had the first name John.

So she decided to have students do some research on their own and put their knowlege into the tangible form of displays with essays accompanying them.

"They did their own research themselves and they are proud of it," Dunn said. "It made history come alive."

Their fact-finding also helped clarify some confusing points.

And they created labels for the models -- made of stuff like wooden sticks, twigs, tempera paint, plastic barnyard animals, craft paper, even Rice Krispies -- with references to the essays they wrote.

Each child presented their work in front of their parents and the whole school.

It was a lot for 9- and 10-year-olds to master and their mastery is on display tomorrow Feb. 22 through Thursday, March 5, when the St. Paul students will retrieve their projects after a field trip to the museum.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The location is 131 W. Main St. in the City of Batavia.