Bement-Billings Farmstead |
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When Asa built this house in the mid 1790’s, it had a kitchen, ante-room, pantry, bedroom and a sleeping loft for his children. A formal parlor in the Federal style was added in the 1820’s. Asa’s son William extended the house to include a second story, new parlor and two more bedrooms on the first floor in 1843. These rooms and the exterior of the house reflect the Greek Revival style popular in the early to mid 1800’s. In the I880’s the summer kitchen was added to the north end of the house.
Over the years the property was owned by the Ford and later the Billings families. In 1977, Mrs. Myrtie Louise Billings Hills deeded the house to the Newark Valley Historical Society to be preserved as a living history museum. In 1997 she gave 90 acres of the original farm to the society. Today the house is furnished as it was in the early 1800s. Additional structures on the site include a reconstructed blacksmith shop, the threshing barn, a woodshop and carriage shed. Today on the farmstead, costumed interpreters demonstrate 19th century skills and trades such as blacksmithing, cooking, spinning and weaving and woodworking as they were done in Asa’s day.
The Bement-Billings House Museum is located at the Farmstead.
The museum is open weekends from July to the first week in October, 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Special appointments can be arranged for tours on any day of the week. Call (607) 642-9516.
Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for students (6-18).
Blacksmith Shop
In the 1790’s, Asa Bement and his young cousin John Rewey, built a log blacksmith shop as part of the Farmstead. Here they made and repaired iron implements such as sled runners, chains, kitchen utensils, household hardware, farm tools and horse shoes. Their shop served the needs of the surrounding area as well as the farmstead.
Our reconstruction of the log blacksmith’s shop rests on the site of the original structure. Today you can watch our blacksmiths hammering red hot iron into useful tools like those made by Asa and John in the early 1800’s.