Historical Weather Station Display at Martin Van Buren NHS

Join the Farmscape Ecology Program as they set up their historical weather station display for an “historical weather day” at the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. The weather station display will feature antique and replica weather instruments, predominantly from the 19^th century. The event will be an opportunity to learn about and interact with these early weather instruments, many of which were manufactured and/or used locally. Some such tools were part of a 19^th century meteorological network throughout New York State that included sites in Kinderhook, Hudson, New Lebanon, Chatham, and Spencertown. Slightly later instrumentation was used by the US Weather Bureau, the precursor of our current Weather Service.

Visitors will be invited to try their hand at reading the weather conditions on some of the still-functional instruments, and learn more about their history and use. A daily almanac derived from meteorological and seasonal observations made by 19^th century observers in Kinderhook and nearby towns will be available for perusing, as well as historical weather maps. These historical weather observations provide a window into how weather and climate has changed since Martin Van Buren’s time, and some of the local effects of those changes.