Potsdam museum donates 200-year-old desk

POTSDAM, New York (WWNY) - A 200-year-old desk from the Potsdam Public Museum is being returned to the community where it was built.

The desk was built in 1822 in the Franklin County town of Chateaugay and is still in excellent condition, according to museum officials.

They say they discovered the mahogany butler’s desk in storage.

Now, the desk is being donated to the Chateaugay Historical Society where it will be on display.

“I think it will add to our collection and it certainly is a representative piece of Chateaugay’s early history and the beginnings of a business community in Chateaugay,” said Mick Jarvis, treasurer, Chateaugay Historical Society.

The desk was donated to the museum by a Potsdam resident in the 1980s.

It was later discovered that the desk was built by the resident’s great-grandfather who owned and operated a cabinet factory in Chateaugay in 1850.

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