The White Horse Regent: Governor William Bouck

Join us for a lecture by David Brooks at the Fort!

September 15 at 7pm

Brooks will be discussing the life and political career of William Bouck, the only New York State Governor from Schoharie County. Following the lecture, you will have the opportunity to see items from the SCHS’s collection as well as items on loan relating to Bouck. 

The Old Stone Fort was built as a High Dutch (German) Reformed church in 1772. 

It was the third building erected by the congregation of the Palatine German settlement of Fuchs Dorf (Fox Town).  Builders chiseled parishioners’ names into the stones. They include many of the early families of the valley.

Through the Civil War and until 1873 it was used as a militia/National Guard armory.  Then the state turned it over to Schoharie County for preservation. In 1889, the Schoharie County Historical Society was chartered to operate a museum at the old fort and by 1899 a catalog of 2,500 items was published.

For the past 125 years, visitors have learned about the first Dutch and German settlers in the Schoharie Valley and their Indian neighbors, viewing artifacts that date back to the early 1700s — including a fire engine built before George Washington was born!  Stories of the Revolutionary War on the frontier are illustrated with muskets, swords, powder horns, and even the British cannonball that was recovered from a roof beam during renovations in the 1830s.  A double-barreled rifle attributed to legendary marksman Timothy Murphy who served here and remained after the war is a highlight.  A Civil War Sesquicentennial Exhibit was installed in 2011 recognizing the soldiers from Schoharie County that served from Fort Sumter (literally!) to Appomattox.