The Iron Center Museum
Please Note:
Due to the lack of volunteers, we suggest you call before coming to the museum, as we cannot guarantee that it will be open.
The Town Historian is in her office, upstairs, on most Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from noon until 2 pm. Ring the bell by the door. For appointments please call 518-546-3587 and leave a message, someone will return your call.
If you would like to volunteer to keep the museum open on a regular basis, please call the number above.
Entry fee: Donation.
Railroad and mining history exhibits are presented by the Town of Moriah Historical Society in a restored carriage house at the former Witherbee-Sherman and Company mining headquarters. The museum documents the operations of the local iron ore mining industry, which flourished from the 1820 to 1971, its impact on worker's lives, and the preparation, processing, and transport of iron ore from Lake Champlain to the world. Port Henry was the largest pre-war producer of iron ore in the country. High grade iron ore was mined in deep tunnels near the villages of Mineville and Witherbee.
The Railroad and Mining Heritage Park encompasses a number of historic structures which were part of the Witherbee-Sherman Mining Company waterfront complex. The Iron Center building was originally a carriage house, ice house and laboratory for testing iron ore. The Company's main office building, built in 1875 in the grand French Second Empire-style, now houses the Town Offices. The Romanesque Revival train depot, built by George Sherman in 1888, is now an Amtrak station. The remains of a steel trestle, built in 1929 and used for loading ore, can be seen along the waterfront. All that remains of the huge Cedar Point Blast Furnace and Foundry, which produced 200 tons of iron per day in 1892, is the concrete block warehouse, now used by the marina. Outdoor displays include an original locomotive, ore car and caboose.