Old Stone Fort Hosting Book Signing Event

SCHOHARIE, NY - The Old Stone Fort Museum will host an outdoor book signing event featuring local historian Jeff O’Connor of Turning Point 1777 and author of the newly published “The Old Stone Fort – Guardian of Schoharie County History Since 1772”. The event will be held on Saturday, Oct. 17 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the grounds of the Old Stone Fort Museum.

This event is limited to forty people with pre-registration required by calling the SCHS at (518) 295-7192. For the safety of all concerned, state law mandates the use of face coverings and socially distancing by all in attendance. Those not registering risk not being accommodated as NYS guidelines will be strictly enforced.

In addition to signing copies of the book books, O’Connor will also present a special tour of the fort grounds. Books will be available for sale for $30 and, while admission to the tour is free, participants will be asked to register on a first come first serve basis.

According to Mr. O’Connor, the familiar story of a church that became a fort, state arsenal, and museum,“was anything but preordained. The building now known as The Old Stone Fort would not have survived if it had not been fortified and attacked during the American Revolution. It is fitting this event is held on the anniversary of the 1780 Johnson Raid.”

The approximately one-hour tour of the museum complex will begin at 1 p.m. and will illustrate the history of the building and adjacent grounds, as well as many of the people and events associated with it. The book signing will take place from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

At 160 pages, with 79 maps, illustrations, and photographs to help narrate the history of the Old Stone Fort, the book takes readers through a journey that has never been fully told until now. As an avid local historian. O’Connor says, “A very incomplete story of the fort, now a museum, has only appeared in bits and pieces, scattered among numerous historical and fictional works. Years of accumulating research, aided by helpful friends and associates, made a book solely dedicated to it possible.”

The “Old Stone Fort” book chronicles an in-depth history of the building, from its Palatine backstory to the present. Highlights include its architectural and ornamental elements, as well as fresh perspectives on the earliest High Dutch Reformed Churches of Foxes Dorf, the David Williams Monument, the Lower Fort and Sir John Johnson’s Raid of 1780.

Included are the most complete histories to date of the Schoharie County Historical Society and Company B of the 108th Regiment, NYS National Guard. In addition, the appendix offers a full list of names chiseled on the façade, what a rare illustration may reveal, a salute to the monuments, a treatment of whether the fort is haunted, and a photo essay featuring the Zimmer Collection of photographs that show over 150 years of change to the fort and grounds.

The Old Stone Fort Museum Complex is located in the village of Schoharie at 145 Fort Road, off NY State Rt. 30, 2.5 miles south of Interstate 88 Exit 23.

More information and preregistration is available by calling (518) 295-7192. To learn more about the Old Stone Fort Museum and the Schoharie County Historical Society visit TheOldStoneFort.org.