Grasse River Camp Photos Added to Rushton Exhibit
Camp Gilmore in 1880, a popular spot for many Canton citizens (From the collection of the St Lawrence County Historical Association)
Don't miss the boat this close to Rushton Race Weekend! Photographs of camps upstream on the Grasse River from the late 19th and early 20th centuries have just been added to an exhibit on J Henry Rushton at the St Lawrence County Historical Association at the Silas Wright House. Four aerial photographs of the Village of Canton from 1939 to the 1960s are also on display.
The exhibit Paddling to Perfection, which celebrates the canoes made by J Henry Rushton in his Canton boat shop, has been expanded to include photographs of camps that were upstream on the Grasse River, around Woodcock Rapids and Cold Springs. Most cottages could be accessed by river and also by horse and carriage via Miner Street from the village of Canton. The rest of Paddling to Perfection showcases photographs and artifacts relating to Rushton's involvement with the American Canoe Association meet in 1886 at Grindstone Island on the St Lawrence River, and Rushton's award winning canoes at the 1893 Columbian World Exposition in Chicago.
A separate, permanent exhibit, J Henry Rushton: the Stradivarius of the Canoe, explores Rushton's life, as well as the growth and eventual decline of his boat shop business. Rushton built his first canoe in 1876 and never looked back. His business grew from a small workshop in Canton to the Rushton Boat Shop on Water Street (now Riverside Drive). By the 1880's he was receiving national and international recognition for his boats. In 1883 Rushton married Leah Pflaum, and she hired women to help her make sails for Rushton's boats.
The SLCHA Gift Shop also carries great items that will make you want to get into the water, such as Rushton and His Times in American Canoeing, Canoeing the Adirondacks with Nessmuk: The Adirondack Letters of George Washington Sears, and posters of the Indian Girl canoe.
The St Lawrence County Historical Association at the Silas Wright House is open Tuesday through Saturday noon to 4 pm, Friday noon to 8 pm. Admission to the museum is free; admission to the archives is free for members and children, $2.50 for college students, and $5 for the general public.The St Lawrence County Historical Association is located at 3 East Main Street, Canton. Parking is available in the back of the SLCHA, next to the museum's main entrance.
The St Lawrence County Historical Association is a membership organization open to anyone interested in St Lawrence County history. For more information, or to become a member, call the SLCHA at 315-386-8133 or e-mail. Exhibits and programs are made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.