Museum - Suffern Village Museum in Suffern, New York

From the Suffern Free Library

239 years ago... Rochambeau made encampment with his 5,000 soldiers in Suffern on August 25, 1781, on his way to Yorktown and again on September 13, 1782, as h...e retraced his steps to return home.[7] An historical marker on the Washington Avenue side of the Lafayette Theatre identifies this site of "Rochambeau's Encampment 17811782". At the time of the encampment, this site was directly across the road from village founder John Suffern's home and tavern where the comte de Rochambeau actually stayed.[7] The Suffern Furniture Company is now located where this house once stood. During the war, Commander-in-Chief General Washington and his regiment made camp in the village several times. Lafayette Avenue, the main street of Suffern, is named in honor of Revolutionary War hero Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, better known as the Marquis de Lafayette.

Check out the Historical Society of Rockland County's online exhibit to learn about remarkable Suffern resident Belle Mayer Zeck.

#FBF News from Yesteryear: SUFFERN Excerpt from the Rockland County Messenger June 4, 1870 #150YEARS AGO SUFFERN It may be impertinent in your corresponden...t to ask the question, and he may be treading on the toes of one of our ''social evilists" to do so, but whether or no, he can't keep it; what he wants to ascertain is, whether it would not be compatible with the interests of some good barber to open shop in some other place in our village rather than in a beer saloon, where he is surrounded by the lowest types of humanity, and where no decent man cares to be seen? If there be such a mechanic or artiste anywhere around who wishes a place to open business in, we would recommend him to come to Suffern. The associations of a beer saloon, where players of dominoes and throwers of dice abound, and those of a barbershop are not harmonious, and should not exist together. _____ Flashback Friday appears every Friday. To receive the full Flashback report (formerly seen in the Rockland Review), visit our website at RocklandHistory.org. To receive it in your email inbox, enter your email address at the bottom of the website’s landing page, or call the HSRC office to register your email at 845 634 9629. _____ Image: Main Street (Lafayette Avenue)- View down Main Street in Suffern, through the intersection for Lafayette Avenue. Photo from Suffern Free Library.

"In Suffern, all schools, churches, lodge rooms, motion picture theaters, and public meeting halls have been closed." This could be a description of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, but it's actually a description of measures taken to prevent the spread of Spanish Influenza in 1918, as reported in the Nyack Evening Journal (9 October 1918). Image courtesy of Hudson River Valley Heritage: https://news.hrvh.org/veridian/

Can you find Suffern Village Museum president Craig Long?

Stop by the Suffern Village Museum this Sunday from 2-4. It's your last chance this year! We will close for the holidays from 12/22 until the New Year.

The Suffern Village Museum is saddened by the news of the passing of founding member and curator emeritus Gardner Watts, at age 105. Please join us in honoring his memory as suggested by his family: "Go have an adventure, be good stewards of the earth and continue to be kind."

From our friends at the Historical Society of Rockland County, on the anniversary of Prohibition

Who remembers Van Riper's farm?

This holiday weekend, the schedule for the Suffern museums will be as follows: Suffern Train Museum will be OPEN from 9-1 on Saturday, 10/12. Suffern Village Museum will be CLOSED on Sunday, 10/13. The Suffern Village Museum Board WILL meet on Monday, 10/14 at 7:30pm. As always, meetings are free and open to the public. ... Have a nice long weekend!

A blast from the past for this Montebello alum!

Today we remember the 50th Anniversary of the line of duty death of Suffern volunteer firefighter Leo P. Lydon. A village owned building on Sylvan Way next to the DARE hockey rink is named in his honor.

Does anyone know any of these children from 1915 Mahwah? Help out our friends at the Mahwah Museum!