Photo: Southeast Museum Ribbon Cutting, Brewster, NY, 1962

 

About the Museum​

 

The Southeast Museum got its start as a temporary exhibit in 1962 to celebrate Putnam County’s 150th anniversary. A large influx of visitors in a short period of time made it clear that something more permanent was needed. The next year, in 1963, the museum received its charter from the NYS Department of Education.  There were 133 Charter Members, and William Quinn, who was President of the Brewster Chamber of Commerce at the time and a prominent supporter of a permanent museum, served as president of the museum for the first seven years.​

 

The Southeast Museum offers exhibits on the history of the Town of Southeast, including the early American Circus, the Harlem Line Railroad, the Tilly Foster Mine, the Borden Milk Condensery, and the Croton Reservoir System.​In addition, the museum presents various changing exhibits, drawing on its extensive collection of antique farm and household implements, quilts, clothing and assorted Americana reflecting 19th century material culture.  

 

The museum is located on Main Street, Brewster, in one of Putnam County's largest land marked buildings, the 1896 Old Town Hall, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.