MADRID -- The St. Lawrence Power and Equipment Museum will open its doors for the 2019 Season on May 11 with the first of 12 open houses.

These are free to the public and take place the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, May 11 through Oct. 26, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Families and groups are also welcome to visit by appointment if they wish to visit at times other than the scheduled open houses.

The St. Lawrence Power and Equipment Museum brings living history to the North Country of New York, telling the story of how people of the region once lived beginning about the early 1800’s and how new technologies helped shape and change their lives, said a press release.

The Museum consists of more than 37,000 square feet of covered space across a campus over twelve acres. Fifteen buildings are on site, including the circa 1850s Schoolhouse, the Shoe Shop, the Heritage Fiber Building, the replica 1926 Madrid Gas Station, the Goolden-Mann Farmhouse, 1900’s style Maple Sugar House, a new Blacksmith Shop, a circa 1835 Log Cabin, Collection Building, the Walker family Granary, Saw and Shingle Mills, Equine Education Building, Horse Drawn Equipment and Antique Tractor Buildings.

Golf cart escort is available for those needing that service.

The Museum’s 37th Spring Antique Gas and Steam Engine Exhibition will take place June 8 and 9, and the 29th Old Fashioned Harvest Days Exhibition will be Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.

Admission to the exhibitions is $5 for ages 12 and older and free for children under 12.

A new addition to the Museum in the coming year or two will be a historical stockade fort, a tribute to St. Lawrence County residents who mustered in and fought in the American Civil War from 1861-1865.

Project information about the fort will be available with a scale model and architectural renditions on display at the exhibitions. Interpreters will be on hand to answer questions and provide in-depth information about this upcoming project.

The Fort will include barracks, headquarters and a parade ground with a flag pole as its center piece. The project will be completed in phases. Initially the stockade fence and gate will be built, then the barracks and finally the headquarters.

The Museum is a 501©(3) education corporation provisionally chartered by the Regents of the University of the State of New York. It is a volunteer-based organization. Membership is open to all who share an interest in preserving and sharing the history of the North Country.

For additional contact and general information regarding Museum’s open houses and exhibitions, phone 315-744-7470 or visit the website slpowermuseum.com for additional information and contacts.