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Livestock Foundation is thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2025 Community Grant Program: Hanford Mills Museum and the West Kortright Center. Livestock Foundation’s Board of Directors selected two projects that most closely matched the organization’s mission to preserve the rural traditions, history, culture, and economic viability of Delaware County New York through historic preservation and community building. Once again, a large number of impressive applications were received from organizations across the county, making for a difficult decision.
Hanford Mills Museum has been awarded a $5,000 grant to support its Waterwheel and Forebay Restoration project.
Hanford Mills Museum has served as a not-for-profit museum since 1973. Between 1846 and 1967, mill owners and employees operated a sawmill, gristmill, woodworking factory, and hardware store at the now-historic Hanford Mills Museum site, and staff and volunteers spent 40 years restoring and returning the waterwheel and machines to operation while adding steam power and a water turbine back to the mill system. Today, Hanford Mills Museum tells the story of one mill to share a local history that is also emblematic of the thousands of mills that people built throughout the country to inspire audiences of all ages to explore connections among energy, technology, natural resources, and entrepreneurship in rural communities. Power for the mill’s operation is generated by the 1926 waterwheel, a historically accurate reproduction, and a mid-19th century horizontal water turbine. Guided tours in the mill include daily operation of historic machines as staff members demonstrate renewable power generation and the processing of natural resources. The Hanford Mills Museum’s 2025 Livestock Foundation Community Grant will support the completion of a significant restoration project needed to preserve the waterwheel and the forebay in the mill. The waterwheel at Hanford Mills Museum has been in place at the mill for nearly 100 years, and the active operation of the mill brings the site’s history to life in a way that is engaging and educational. The waterwheel and its related machinery were last restored in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After decades of use and exposure to water, the metal waterwheel and forebay are in need of sandblasting to remove the rust that has developed, and recoating to protect the metal and prolong the lifespan of the equipment.
West Kortright Center has been awarded a $5,000 grant to support its Interior restoration and insulation of historic former church building project.
The West Kortright Center is a not-for-profit arts and cultural organization housed in the historic West Kortright Church building. Since its inception in 1850, the home of the West Kortright Center has always served as a focal point for the community. In 1975, after 121 years as a Presbyterian Church, hundreds of local residents gathered to save the Greek Revival structure and give it new life as a non-profit arts center, returning it for community use. Now a historic landmark, the West Kortright Center has lovingly preserved and cared for the building’s original character—magnificent stained glass, woodwork, chandeliers, and acoustical design—enjoyed by generations of members, visitors, and artists from near and far. The Center seeks to promote the value of the arts by sponsoring a diverse blend of performances, hands-on educational workshops, social events, and visual arts exhibits. The West Kortright Center’s 2025 Livestock Foundation Community Grant will support the historic renovation of their landmark building. The proposed upgrades are essential to both preserve the structure and improve its functionality for public use and include: plaster repair using historically appropriate materials and techniques, insulation installation improving energy efficiency and year-round comfort for patrons, and interior painting in historically accurate colors reviving the aesthetic integrity of the 19th-century structure. This renovation will ensure the long-term preservation of the building, while expanding access to arts programming in a historically underserved region, honoring the building’s past while fostering its future as a creative cornerstone.
Livestock Foundation’s Community Grant Program provides project-based financial support to local organizations that share our goal to protect and promote the human, economic, and natural resources of our communities. The grant program was created to inspire collaboration amongst local organizations to further our shared missions.
You can learn more about the 2025 Community Grant recipients and all of Livestock Foundation’s programming at livestockfoundation.org.
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