AUSABLE CHASM TO TURN OVER ESTES HOUSE TO TOWN OF CHESTERFIELD FOR UNDERGROUND RAILROAD VISITORS CENTER
Monday July 27 will be a momentous day at Ausable Chasm. At 4 P.M. the Ausable Chasm Corporation will turn over the keys of the historic 19th century sandstone Estes House to Gerald Morrow, Town of Chesterfield Supervisor. Morrow has forged a unique partnership between the Town of Chesterfield, the Chasm Corporation and the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association. Under Morrow’s supervision, efforts to transform the Estes House into the Town of Chesterfield Visitors Interpretive Center will immediately begin. The Center, scheduled to open in the Spring of 2010, will be operated by the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association,while the Chasm Corporation will continue to maintain the grounds. AES Northeast of Plattsburgh will oversee renovations; Design Divisions, Inc. of Amherst, Massachusetts will design state of the art exhibits. Displays will relate dramatic documented stories of fugitives from slavery who traveled through Northeastern New York and the dedicated men and women who assisted them. Stories will be linked to the region’s Waterways to Freedom–the Upper Hudson River, the Champlain Canal and Lake Champlain.
The Town of Chesterfield Visitors Interpretive Center will be a destination point on the Lakes to Locks Passage which extends from Troy, New York, to Quebec, Canada.
Posted: July 9th, 2009 under General News.