JOHNSTOWN – Johnson Hall State Historic Site has opened for the 2016 season, offering tours of the historic mansion on Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m., according to a news release.
Tours begin on the hour, with the last tour of each day beginning at 4 p.m.
Pre-registered groups and site special events may alter this tour schedule, a news release said.
Tours cost $4 for adults, and $3 for seniors and students. Tours are free for children ages 12 and younger. Group tours are available by advance reservation.
The site will begin events Saturday with a lecture by site Manager Wade Wells on “The Price of Loyalty: The Confiscation of Johnson Hall.”
The lecture will begin at 11 a.m. in the historic mansion, and will be followed by light refreshments.
In 1776, Johnson Hall shared the fate of confiscation with many properties owned by Americans who remained loyal to the crown during the American Revolution. Wells will recount the events of Sir John’s flight to escape arrest, Lady Johnson’s detainment and the loss of Johnson Hall. Tours will begin at 1 p.m. on this day.
On July 16, senior interpreter Michael Perazzini will offer a lecture on “The 55th Regiment of Foot.”
The lecture will begin at 11 a.m. in the historic mansion, and will be followed by light refreshments.
Raised in 1755 in Sterling, Scotland, the 55th Regiment of Foot fought in America during the French and Indian War, and members of the regiment were garrisoned at Johnson Hall. The lecture will follow their exploits up to the beginning of the American War for Independence. Tours on this day will begin at 1 p.m.
On Aug. 20, tours of the mansion will begin at 1 p.m. On Aug. 21, a lecture will be given by Joscelyn Godwin and Christian Goodwillie on Symbols in the Wilderness: Early Masonic Survivals in Upstate New York.
The lecture will begin at 1 p.m. and will be followed by light refreshments. To mark August’s 250th anniversary of the first meeting held by St Patrick’s Masonic Lodge at Johnson Hall, the pair will discuss early New York Freemasonry and the surviving examples of masonic architecture and symbolic art work. An open house, featuring an exhibit of the original jewels, minute book and charter of St Patrick’s Lodge, a book signing by the authors of their newly published book “Symbols in the Wilderness: Early Masonic Survivals in Upstate New York” and light refreshments will follow the lecture.
Johnson Hall’s final day for tours for the 2016 season will be Oct. 9.
The annual Holiday Open House will be held Dec. 2 from 6 to 8:30 p.m., featuring holiday decorations, period music, horse-drawn wagon rides, light refreshments and holiday gift-shopping.
Johnson Hall was the 1763 Georgian estate of Sir William Johnson and Molly Brant and their family.
Sir William was the largest landowner in the colonial Mohawk Valley, the news release said.
The main house and flanking stonehouses, originally surrounded by a 700-acre farm, now interpret the Johnson family through tours, educational programs and special events.
For more information, call 872-8712.
