Historic Districts may choose to obtain and install a roadside
marker sign, to inform and remind residents and visitors of the
listing on the State and National Registers. The McKownville
Improvement Association acquired such a sign for the McKownville -
Country Club Highlands Historic District, through the sponsorship of
the Guilderland Historical Society, and grant funding by the William
C Pomeroy Foundation. An unveiling ceremony for this marker was held
29th June 2023.
These signs are not provided by the National Park Service, the
agency responsible for the National
Register of Historic Places, nor by the New York State Historic
Preservation Office (in the Department of Parks, Recreation
and Historic Preservation), responsible for the NY
State Register of Historic Places.
Commercial sources of Historic District marker signs include Catskill Castings, Sewah Studios, Erie Landmark, and Franklin Bronze;
their websites show examples.
The William
C. Pomeroy Foundation accepts grant proposal applications from
some non-profit organizations for a marker sign, for which they
provide the funds, if the proposal is successful. A older local
example of a sign funded by this Foundation can be seen in the Rapp
Road Community Historic District. The markers funded by the
Pomeroy Foundation are made by Sewah Studios.
On 29th June 2023 the McKownville Improvement
Association and the Guilderland Historical Society held an unveiling
ceremony for the roadside marker for the McKownville - Country
Club Highlands Historic District. About 50 people attended this
enjoyable neighborhood event [Altamont
Enterprise letter from Ellen Manning]. Brief remarks were made
by the President of the McKownville Improvement Association, Ellen
Manning, and the representative of the Guilderland Historical
Society, John Haluska, as well as by Peter Barber, Town of
Guilderland Supervisor, Mary Ellen Johnson, Town Historian, Bill
Krattinger of the State Historic Preservation Office, and by Martha
Harausz and Bill Kidd of the McKownville Improvement Association.
All expressed their appreciation of the generosity of William C
Pomeroy Foundation in providing the funding for the marker, and to
the kindness of the present property owners of 1443 Western Avenue,
Grace Luke Fraser and her family, in allowing the installation in a
most appropriate location, near the former home of the principal
developers of Country Club Highlands, Benjamin and Caroline Witbeck.
(left) Ellen Manning, Grace Luke Fraser and family, Peter Barber,
and Mary Ellen Johnson. Photo courtesy of John Haluska.
(right) John Haluska setting up for the ceremony.
Installation of the marker 11 April 2023; Bill Kidd and Jim White.
Thanks also to Delaware Engineering for their assistance with
cement.
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