When are you open?
In short, we can accommodate appointments seven days a week, once we have establish if we are able to help. We get a wide range of requests as you can imagine! We require appointments for any in-depth answer. We are not a Dutchess County government (tax-payer funded) organization. Our primarily role is acquisition and protection of physical historical archives. But they are only valuable if accessible for interpretation, of course.
We have found that the most effective and efficient way to address enquiries is to have the requests submitted in writing in advance.
DCHS is located at 6282 Route 9, Rhinebeck, New York and, in general, our volunteers can accommodate “drop-ins” without an appointment Thursday, Friday or Saturday 10:00 am to 3:00 pm excluding holidays. Because we rely so much on volunteer help, it is important you email us in advance to confirm what you are looking for: contact@dchsny.org.
We do not always have information on the topic that is of interest. Or it may take some time to establish if we do. That’s why writing down requests is so important.
If you are onsite you may:
- Take a self-guided tour as we try to highlight we some example things we are working on. But we are not a museum or an exhibition space but an archive and non-circulating library of specialist books.
- We will help you fill out an “ask” form that is found at www.dchsny.org/ask. Or below:
COSTS: The Dutchess County Historical Society is a non-profit 501c3 depending entirely on annual memberships and donations, and does not regularly receive any taxpayer monies for its operations. It may be apopriate to discuss some costs. This can be assessed individually.