Aurora Ledyard Historical Society

Aurora Ledyard Historical Society Open by appt; call or text 315-246-1130.

Join us at Historic Patrick Tavern, 302 Main Street at the corner of Dublin Hill Road from 11 am to 3:30 pm for arts, cr...
11/18/2025

Join us at Historic Patrick Tavern, 302 Main Street at the corner of Dublin Hill Road from 11 am to 3:30 pm for arts, crafts, and more. Explore unique local products, watch artisans at work, find just-right gifts, and take a break for something hot. Children's craft table, too.

11/13/2025

A Serialized Adventure! The Little Building Takes a Long Trip

Taking apart an eighteenth-century building (ca. 1795), especially one in as deteriorated state as the Walter Wood Law Office/Post Office (WWLO-PO, for short), is a succession of puzzles to be solved. Fortunately, contractor extraordinaire Jeff Koehn seems to enjoy the challenge and is certainly expert at finding solutions. Many helped this preservation effort, as you will see.

Village Historian Linda Schwab (in Aurora) and ALHS Trustee Karin Wikoff (on Townline Rd) alternate in telling the story. Follow them by scrolling downwards. All this, plus many more pictures (especially of the challenging maneuvers to get the building into its winter home) will be posted on the website, auroraledyardhistory.org.

[Linda’s part, in Aurora:] By Monday, Nov. 3rd, the building was down, collected in two very large bundles of timbers an...
11/13/2025

[Linda’s part, in Aurora:] By Monday, Nov. 3rd, the building was down, collected in two very large bundles of timbers and - surprise - the east and west walls lying open like a book, intact. This is accepted practice when it can be done, though it created interesting difficulties later on. (Those are the sides, with Annetta Koehn’s dog Jasper on lookout.) Annetta and Linda Schwab started on the long task of artifact removal and recovery as Jeff continued clearing the site and preparing the building for transport. Local experts were called in briefly to evaluate automotive and mechanical pieces (Theon Parseghian) and lamps (Margaret Flowers).

[Linda] On Thursday, Nov. 6th, Rustin Wilson of Empire Fence pulled in next door with a very long flatbed and Jeff broug...
11/13/2025

[Linda] On Thursday, Nov. 6th, Rustin Wilson of Empire Fence pulled in next door with a very long flatbed and Jeff brought the essential skid steer. The intact sides were cut apart at the middle, maneuvered uphill for loading, and eventually the truck pulled out; Jeff followed, hauling the Bobcat. Karin Wikoff, Sean Lacey, and his friend Jerry would meet them at the other end.

[Karin’s part, at Sean’s garage] Thursday November 6 was a cold and blustery day in Southern Cayuga County. At Sean Lac...
11/13/2025

[Karin’s part, at Sean’s garage] Thursday November 6 was a cold and blustery day in Southern Cayuga County. At Sean Lacey’s place, we even got a burst of hail while waiting for the arrival of the disassembled Walter Wood Law Office and
Post Office.

I’d never before noticed how narrow Townline Road is - the steep ditches on both sides don’t leave much room to maneuver. Watching Jeff Koehn calmly and carefully jockey the Bobcat forklift to pick up a pallet of WWLO-PO materials in that narrow space made that very clear.

When he got the first pallet to the door of the garage, it was immediately clear it would not fit. So, Jeff lifted the top half of the pallet off and set it aside. Rustin found a couple pieces of wood to wedge under the bottom half to give Jeff the clearance he needed to approach the load from 90 degrees and lift it from a different side. This time, the pallet fit neatly through the doorway and into the back of the garage.

[Karin, continued] Then Jeff brought the second pallet from the truck in the road. In the driveway, they repeated the p...
11/13/2025

[Karin, continued] Then Jeff brought the second pallet from the truck in the road. In the driveway, they repeated the process of shifting the orientation of the Bobcat to the pallet, in hopes it would fit through the door the way the first one had. As he eased forward, Rustin, on the left, called out, “You have half an inch of clearance.” Sean’s friend, Jerry, was on the right, where the WWLO-PO materials were rubbing against the
weatherstripping. “Move the other way a bit!” he called out. But there was only half an inch to spare on the other side.

I held my breath as Jeff expertly threaded that impossibly tight needle – and, sure enough, he managed to get the whole pallet inside without damage to anything. Under Rustin’s direction, Jeff gently stacked the second pallet on top of the first.

At that point, Jeff decided he would need to see the remaining materials all together before he could figure out how to fit all the pieces of the puzzle in place. By then, Sean had switched to a warmer hat, and I was nearly frozen, so I went home, confident that the whole project was in good hands.

[Linda:] Work on the artifacts began with washing and sorting in between the above events; Rob brought his glass grinder...
11/13/2025

[Linda:] Work on the artifacts began with washing and sorting in between the above events; Rob brought his glass grinder to polish off a couple of broken bottle necks and smooth the edge of a plate. A growing collection of rusty iron artifacts are at Rob’s shop, awaiting a bath in EvapoRust.

[Linda:]While all this was going on, Linda and Rob LoMascolo also tackled the pile of bricks from the chimney. These hav...
11/13/2025

[Linda:]
While all this was going on, Linda and Rob LoMascolo also tackled the pile of bricks from the chimney. These have the slightly rough shape characteristic of handmade bricks and would be of local manufacture, probably on the site itself (a brick kiln was documented just a few miles down Rte. 90, and there were doubtless many others wherever need arose).

One batch of bricks was soon ready to move in a collection of boxes and buckets; Linda and Rob sorted the rest of the pile to discard broken ones and loaded the rest into the Bobcat’s bucket, left conveniently close by. The first batch of bricks went to Patrick Tavern with a little “creative driving” by Linda for easy unloading. Meanwhile, Jeff and Rustin returned for the second load: the bundled timbers and assorted odd pieces.

When Jeff returned again, he attached the brick-filled bucket to the Bobcat; Linda and Rob met him at Patrick Tavern for another, and larger, bout of stacking. This resource gives the option of making the east patio of original, local brick.

That wasn’t quite all, however. As Jeff was smoothing the site, he found an unusually large grindstone, used as one corner support for the building. That too is now in storage.

[Karin]Sean stayed to the end, and amazingly, all the materials eventually fit into the garage – just barely! There wil...
11/13/2025

[Karin]
Sean stayed to the end, and amazingly, all the materials eventually fit into the garage – just barely! There will need to be some more reorganization to make room for Sean’s lawnmower, but he is very pleased to be able to help.

Looking at that jumble of old boards and timbers now, it’s hard to believe they can be salvaged. But we have seen the beautiful restoration work at Opendore, and the excellent work Jeff did on the church in Levanna, so I am excited to see how he’ll transform this pile of historical detritus into something useful, educational, and full of life again.

The Aurora Ledyard Historical Society website is now live! You can find us at https://auroraledyardhistory.orgThe site p...
10/22/2025

The Aurora Ledyard Historical Society website is now live! You can find us at
https://auroraledyardhistory.org
The site provides information about our current projects and activities, our past work, and stories and photos from the history of the Village of Aurora and the Town of Ledyard. We will update it regularly, so check in often.

10/08/2025

Last Saturday was so much fun, we're doing it all again! NY State calls this "Path through History Weekend," and along with our neighboring historical societies and sites (in Union Springs, Sherwood, and Genoa), Patrick Tavern will be open both Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11 & 12, from 1:00-4:00 p.m. for you to enjoy "From Main to the Kicking Tree: Daily Walks in Aurora, circa 1905." The show incorporates postcards, snapshots, and stories from the experiences of Wells students in Aurora. Former professors, staff, and students have volunteered to bring the exhibit to life for your visit by sharing their experiences and stories. Stop by, enjoy a snack and conversation, and get a glimpse of Aurora and Wells College life over a century ago. The show continues Tuesdays (4:30-6:00 p.m.) and Saturdays (11:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m.) through December 2nd.

Stop by on Saturday!
10/03/2025

Stop by on Saturday!

Address

302 Main Street
Aurora, NY
13026

Opening Hours

4pm - 6pm

Telephone

(315) 246-1130

Website

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