STERLING - With summer still in full bloom, museums use Cayuga County's rich, deep history to help teach children more about America's historic significance.
The latest lesson was taught at The Little Red Schoolhouse Museum on Route 38 in Sterling, as the Sterling Historical Society presented an afternoon dedicated to teaching children about how trains and steam engines shaped the area.
Even though Sterling and neighboring Fair Haven are located on the Great Lakes, it wasn't until the first trains rolled through in 1871 that the economy began to boom.
With the help of the beloved cartoon character Thomas the Tank Engine, the museum staff opened the doors to the newly renovated first floor.
"It's important to understand the history of trains in this country," said Don Richardson, president of the Sterling Historical Society. "It's an exciting, dramatic topic."
For a $5 donation, children and their families were invited to witness the new multimedia facilities and historic train exhibits at the schoolhouse. The highlight of which was a movie titled "The Golden Age of Rail," that told the story of the first train engines in Europe all the way through to the history of trains in Sterling.
The new exhibit also features a set of models and murals created and painted by local artists. One 18-foot electric train model shows the three-mile railway from Sterling Station to the loading trestle that used to be in North Fair Haven.
A trestle is a large wooden "dock" used to transfer shipments from trains to boats.
The afternoon also included a sack race, a three-legged race, and Thomas the Tank Engine storytime with town librarian Judy Furnari.
"There are a lot of things in this area that people don't realize happened," said Stephanie Nodine, a senior accounting major at SUNY Oswego, one of the masterminds behind the project. "We want to bring them back to it."
The Sterling trains were part of the Lehigh Valley Railway system out of Pennsylvania.
With stops in Auburn and New York City, these trains carried everything from anthracite coal and milk, to blocks of ice that had to be sent to New York City one year when the Hudson River failed to freeze over.
The coal was shipped from Pennsylvania to the Lehigh trestle in Fair Haven; from there it was taken by schooner to Canada.
The trestle was shut down in 1937 and the train systems in Sterling were gradually closed. The last milk train left the station in 1947.
"Funding is going to help keep this alive," said Nodine, encouraging donations. "Trains don't exist like this anymore."
The money from the children's day, as well as a state grant of $20,000, will go towards a large-scale building moving project in late September. The historical society hopes to move the old train tower and station from their locations in Sterling to behind the schoolhouse museum.
"I think it's great that they interact," said Barb Bellerdine, of Auburn, who brought her grandson. "That they get out at such a young age."
Even though Sterling and neighboring Fair Haven are located on the Great Lakes, it wasn't until the first trains rolled through in 1871 that the economy began to boom.
With the help of the beloved cartoon character Thomas the Tank Engine, the museum staff opened the doors to the newly renovated first floor.
"It's important to understand the history of trains in this country," said Don Richardson, president of the Sterling Historical Society. "It's an exciting, dramatic topic."
For a $5 donation, children and their families were invited to witness the new multimedia facilities and historic train exhibits at the schoolhouse. The highlight of which was a movie titled "The Golden Age of Rail," that told the story of the first train engines in Europe all the way through to the history of trains in Sterling.
The new exhibit also features a set of models and murals created and painted by local artists. One 18-foot electric train model shows the three-mile railway from Sterling Station to the loading trestle that used to be in North Fair Haven.
A trestle is a large wooden "dock" used to transfer shipments from trains to boats.
The afternoon also included a sack race, a three-legged race, and Thomas the Tank Engine storytime with town librarian Judy Furnari.
"There are a lot of things in this area that people don't realize happened," said Stephanie Nodine, a senior accounting major at SUNY Oswego, one of the masterminds behind the project. "We want to bring them back to it."
The Sterling trains were part of the Lehigh Valley Railway system out of Pennsylvania.
With stops in Auburn and New York City, these trains carried everything from anthracite coal and milk, to blocks of ice that had to be sent to New York City one year when the Hudson River failed to freeze over.
The coal was shipped from Pennsylvania to the Lehigh trestle in Fair Haven; from there it was taken by schooner to Canada.
The trestle was shut down in 1937 and the train systems in Sterling were gradually closed. The last milk train left the station in 1947.
"Funding is going to help keep this alive," said Nodine, encouraging donations. "Trains don't exist like this anymore."
The money from the children's day, as well as a state grant of $20,000, will go towards a large-scale building moving project in late September. The historical society hopes to move the old train tower and station from their locations in Sterling to behind the schoolhouse museum.
"I think it's great that they interact," said Barb Bellerdine, of Auburn, who brought her grandson. "That they get out at such a young age."
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