Central New York Living History Center
Our Mission
The HCCA has a four-fold mission: to develop a museum complex for the preservation of historical artifacts of local, national and international significance, to educate students from the intermediate grades through college, to contribute to the economic revitalization of Cortland County by creating a museum that will enhance tourism in the Central New York area, and to provide opportunities for volunteers to become involved in community-building activities.
To realize this mission, HCCA oversees a museum complex that houses the following collections:
The Brockway Truck Preservation Association, Inc. - A permanent and rotating collection of antique Brockway Trucks, native to Cortland and Homer, NY. After the 5th Annual National Truck Show in 2004, the working committee incorporated to become the Brockway Truck Show, Inc., a non-profit organization that manages the annual event in downtown Cortland. This show has been a great success by all possible standards, with people coming from around the world for the parade and the festivities. For some time, the working committee had also been intent on creating a Brockway Museum where Brockways could be on display all year round, along with the wealth of memorabilia and historical documents pertaining to the manufacture of the trucks.
The Homeville Museum - American and local military and railroad history collections from the Civil War era to the present. The Homeville Museum is the private treasure trove of the late Ken Eaton, who passed away in February 2006 at the age of 80. A WWII veteran, Ken Eaton spent more than 35 years assembling this collection of over 10,000 items that visiting museum curators have pronounced as "wondrous", "unique" and "irreplaceable". In the collection are rare items of local and national political and economic significance, a massive collection of model trains including a huge panoramic display, and a military collection that is second to none. This collection has direct connections to local history and veterans, from the Civil War to the Gulf War and includes several military vehicles. In 2005, a group of volunteers interested in preserving Ken Eaton's lifetime of work formed the Homeville Museum, Inc., a NYS chartered museum NFP corporation with the provisions for operating a historical museum. Homeville Museum, Inc. seeks to purchase and house the collection, intact, to preserve the memory of Ken Eaton's life's work and to add to its immeasurable value to the community.
Tractors of Yesteryear - Antique collections of tractors from the Central NY Tractor Club and antique agricultural equipment. A central and southern New York & Northern Pennsylvania antique tractor club formed in 1990 with over 350 members. The HCCA museum complex will provide a home for permanent and rotating displays from this impressive collection.
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