History & Collection of the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum

Named after the life-long Loudonville resident whose generosity helped make it possible, the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum opened in 1973.

Not long after the formation of the Mohican Historical Society in 1961, Mrs. Fisher, well-known for her strong interest in local history and her many collections (among them porcelain ware and Loudonville artifacts), advised its Board she hoped it would some day have a museum and toward the end, planned to bequeath most of her estate to the Society.

Four years after Mrs. Fisher's death in 1969, her hope became a reality. Its construction financed by funds included in her estate (augmented by donations from the community), The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum was erected on the ground once occupied by her home.

Four decades after Mrs. Fisher's death, her legacy lives on in the Museum's exhibits, which feature many artifacts and antiques from her collections, and in its admission price which, because she had the foresight to establish a fund to cover its annual operating and maintenance costs, remain the same as the day it opened, on August 26, 1973.

Collection

1913 Flxible sidecar

A 1913 motorcycle sidecar, its first product, is the highlight of a display which tells the history of the Loudonville-based Flxible Company, better known for the intra and inter-city buses it produced from the mid-1920s to the mid-1990s.

Combination player piano & organ

Interested in rare musical instruments? The Museum has one, a combination player piano and organ made by The Reproduco Company of Chicago that was originally used in the local Opera House to provide background music for silent films.

Victorian Era Parlor

The Museum's Victorian era parlor display features a number of antiques from the time. Among them a horsehair sofa, loveseat, pump organ, and an unusual 1868 hair wreath.