Bergen Town Historian Tom Tiefel completed much of the work on six displays in the Harford Livery himself. The scenes depict five former Bergen businesses: the Housel Savings and Loan, T.H. Gilbert Blacksmith Shop and Ironworks, W.J. Davy Carriage Works, A.S. Fisher and Sons Pharmacy and the Edgerton General Store. There is also a spot for rotating and special exhibits. Some of the artifacts included in the exhibits come from the very businesses depicted. Bergen Supervisor Don Cunningham says the town is very, “… pleased with the effort. It’s a little piece of Genesee Country Museum right here in Bergen,” he said.
The working clock on the wall of the A.S. Fisher and Sons Pharmacy exhibit at the Harford Livery Barn Museum in Bergen is original to the former Bergen business. Bergen Town Historian Tom Tiefel said the clock was salvaged from the pharmacy following a fire in 1880. It was restored by Jacob Wengerd in Conewango Valley, NY, just in time for the grand re-opening of the museum June 8. The pharmacy was located where Greg’ry’s Bakery is today, Tiefel said. Tiefel said the museum hosted its largest crowd ever during the Bergen Park Festival held June 8. He worked over the past nine months to construct scenes from five former Bergen businesses inside the museum. Tiefel said the displays will especially help local school children to learn their local history. “It gets kids excited and inspires them,” he said. The Harford Livery Barn is open on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer from 1 to 4 p.m. The large mortar and pestle visible in the left of the photo is also original to the Fisher Pharmacy.
Preparing to cut the ribbon on the grand re-opening of the Harford Livery Barn museum in Bergen June 8 are Town Supervisor Don Cunningham, Town Historian Tom Tiefel, Marian Partridge and John MacVean. The museum is dedicated to Partridge’s husband, Richard, who died February 9, 2013. He volunteered many hours organizing materials in the historian’s office. “It’s a great tribute to Dick,” Partridge told Westside News Inc./Suburban News. John McVean is the son of Wanda MacVean, a former Bergen historian who spear-headed the movement to save the Harford Livery from destruction. Bergen Historian Tom Tiefel said the re-opening is also a tribute to her. He said MacVean, along with other former Bergen historian Virginia Barons, were, “… visionaries and preservationists during the era of urban renewal … they saw the value in saving (local landmarks).”
