Pickering Beach Museum

Happy Labor Day weekend from Mrs Olivia Pickering-Beach!!! She is masked up and ready to greet visitors. Labor Day was first celebrated on Seprember 5, 1882. The Pickering girls would have had 9 Labor Days together here in Sackets Harbor before Miss Olivia died in May of 1892. Come see our little piece of history at Sackets Harbor by visiting our 203 year old house and the State's scenic battlefield right next door. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

Miss Olivia's watching the 1812 encampment on the Battlefield today. It was before her time, but family memories suggest their little cottage was used as a field hospital during the invasion of Sackets Harbor. Her siblings Gustavus, Clarissa, and Marietta were old enough to remember some of papa's war time stories.

Miss Olivia says come on down to Sackets Harbor! The lake is beautiful today and the history is fascinating and tragic.

I need to flip my calender sooner...happy belated birthday to William Ewers born August 5, 1871 in Kansas. His father was stationed at Madison Barracks, and it's there that he met Amy Beach. They were married in 1898. He enlisted as a doctor and served in Europe during World War II. In retirement, they maintained the summer home in Sackets Harbor and a winter place in Somerset, Bermuda where they were buried when they both died in 1936.

The Pickering and Beach families are waiting to welcome you to their home. Come see a slice of mid 19th century life preserved in this family's home. We have a few new portraits hanging in the Gallery and Military rooms for temporary exhibit, and Grandma's Attic has an I Spy game is see what you can find. We are open Thursday through Sunday afternoons by appointment, so stop by to see schedule of tours at our back door. Stay safe. Stay happy. And come hunt down some history at Sackets Harbor.

YES! The village board has approved us re-opening! Have a new exhibit on a local couple and a little more written interpretation as I hate talking through a mask. So, if you've been doing local history with the family, come to Sackets Harbor and see it come to life.

If you're out cruising downtown Sackets this holiday weekend, take a walk between the cottage and house on our site. The hollyhocks are beautiful!

We were hoping to be open for the 4th, but haven't got the go ahead as of today. I decorated for the holiday today, so we at least look festive. We have had to come up with some new methods to meet State guidelines. If we open, we will be asking visitors to sign in on 35 cards to eliminate multi handling of a guest book and we will be collecting a contact method for the State's tracers if there is possible exposure. Tours will be by appointment with sign up through Facebook ...or a sign up sheet at the museum door. This will limit the number in the museum at any given time and keep it to people travelling together. A DO NOT TOUCH policy will be strictly enforced. Our old railings and woodwork need to have as little sanitizing as possible. They have survived past pandemics and we hope to survive this one with as little wear and tear to the physical building as we can. With all the home schooling of the past few months, I hope we have the opportunity to bring some of the past to life for all those home bound scholars. Hope to see you soon - Miss Olivia looks lonely. See more

Waiting on when we can open. We are officially in Phase 4 of reopening, so it will be around July 1 at the earliest. To keep our guests and staff save, we are looking at appointments for tours, self guided tour, more outside and Facebook use for some tour information, as well as meeting sanitizing standards and protecting some of the fragile materials in the collection. Here's to what should be an interesting and challenging season. The house survived the 1920's pandemic...it will survive this.

When every day seems like the last and you forget to look at the calender....Saturday, May 9th was the anniversary of our beloved Miss Olivia's passing. She died on that date in 1892. I haven't received word yet on the museum's opening this summer. It was scheduled for June 25th, and Miss Olivia was looking forward to seeing people go through her home again. I will post any updates on the State's and our reopening as soon as I receive them, Stay safe and read a good history book to make the time pass.

Today in our family history: Wish a happy birthday anniversary to Dewitt Clinton Hay, husband to Marietta Pickering, born May 1, 1817. Marietta founded the Hay Memorial Library in Sackets Harbor in his name.

Happy belated birthday to our patroness, Amy Beach, born on Thursday March 13, 1873.

Merry Christmas to all our friends, families, and followers on Facebook. A special thank you to our volunteers who do so much to make the museum a wonderful place to visit - Dave, Toni, Barb, Patty, Amy, Lida, Cece, Kathy, Sandra, Kim, Marlene, Sharon, Diana, and Suzy. Thank you for making me feel welcome this past summer...I'm looking forward to this year's adventures with the Pickering and Beach families' history.