Webster Museum

What is it

WHAT IS IT??????

Come and check out the Webster Museum and Historical Society’s new exhibit. We have assembled a display of unusual things from the museum’s collection.

While, the majority of these items have been identified, there are a few that remain a mystery. We have a Bread Crumber, a Niddy Noddy, a glove stretcher, a lard press and a few thingamabobbers, and whatchamacallits!

Have you ever seen a Ukelin or a Melodica? Check out the musical instrument exhibit during your visit.

Stop and and see what you can identify. We'd appreciate your thoughts.

Peep Show

Peep Show

Greater Rochester Peep Show

Webster Recreation Center

Saturday
March 25th 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Sunday
March 26th 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

The GREATER ROCHESTER PEEP SHOW is a special fund-raising event with proceeds benefiting the Webster Community Chest and several other participating local charities and non-profit organizations.

Website

Volunteers

Women of Webster

Past and Present

Webster Public Library

Thursday
March 30th 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Come and meet interesting Webster women and hear their stories in person!
We will be featuring well known Webster Women of history and today! Some of these include: Esther Dunn - A Webster Historian, Missy Rosenberry, and Ginny Nguyen.

Co-sponsored with the Webster Public Library

Register

Clocks

Timepiece Tales

Garth Brokaw on Clocks

Webster Public Library

Saturday
May 13th 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Join us as we view multiple timepieces, clocks, pocket watches and related ephemera while you learn about clock making in the US from 1780-1929. Garth will walk through the collection, showing how the progression of clock making represents the progression of American History over the course of the last 150 years.

Co-sponsored with the Webster Public Library

Register

Volunteers
Membership
Donations
Joy of Play
Joy of Play
Toys and Games

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
Marie Stone
Blanche Parshall
Elizabeth Gaffney
Agnes Klaver

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?

BEDWARF

v. t. [be and dwarf.] To make little; to stunt or hinder growth.

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

Webster Adventure Lab

The Webster Walkabout Adventure Lab

Webster History on foot

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

"Let's Explore Webster"

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

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Hamburger History

National Hamburger Month

...and National Hamburger Day is May 28th

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
Behind the scenes at the Webster Museum (February 17, 2020)

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.

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Night at the Museum

Night at the Museum

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

World War Two

World War Two

Webster residents who never made it home.

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

Dance

Dear Webster Museum

Notes from Webster Students

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.

WLiWL
WLiWL

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.

Visitors Hours

Civil War Webster WWI Archive Historical Plaques
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WEBSTER MUSEUM AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
18 Lapham Park Webster, New York 14580 585.265.3308

Webster Museum