About the Museum
The American Maple Museum was founded in 1977 by a small group of dedicated Lewis County maple producers who believed the history of North American maple sugaring deserved a proper home. Forty-eight years later, the museum is still in Croghan, still volunteer-driven, and still adding to its collection of tools, photographs, and stories from across the maple-producing regions of the United States and Canada.
Our Mission
The museum exists to preserve, document, and exhibit the history and evolution of the North American maple syrup industry — from the methods used by the Indigenous peoples who first taught Europeans to tap maple trees, to the stainless-steel evaporators and reverse-osmosis equipment that define modern commercial sugaring.
What We Are
A small, three-floor regional museum in the Adirondack foothills of New York State. Housed in the former Leo Memorial School building, with nine exhibit rooms, a gift shop, a dining room used for community pancake breakfasts, and the Maple Hall of Fame.
Charter & Recognition
The American Maple Museum is a non-profit organization chartered (Absolute Charter) by the New York State Board of Regents, and is officially recognized by the North American Maple Syrup Council and the International Maple Syrup Institute. It is an official New York State Path Through History site, and was honored with the 2017 MUSE Award for its impact on local culture.
The Building
Our home is the former Leo Memorial School, acquired in 1980 through a generous gift from Robert and Florence Lamb. The Lambs also contributed much of their personal collection of antique syrup-making equipment, logging tools, and antiques, which forms the backbone of the museum's collection today. Other artifacts have come from maple producers across the U.S. and Canada in the decades since. More on the museum's history
Volunteer-Driven
The museum is run almost entirely by volunteers — local maple producers, retired educators, regional historians, and people who simply love what we do. Major funding comes from the annual pancake breakfasts (sausage, pancakes, and pure maple syrup served in our own dining room), admissions, the gift shop, and donations from individuals and organizations.
The Hall of Fame
The American Maple Hall of Fame occupies one room on the first floor of the museum. Each year, the North American Maple Syrup Council selects two individuals from the United States or Canada for induction. The ceremony — held during our opening weekend in May — has become one of the central gatherings of the North American maple industry. More on the Hall of Fame
What's on Display
Across three floors and nine rooms: a full sugar house replica, a lumber camp kitchen, a logging office, syrup-making equipment from every era of the industry, hundreds of historic containers and sugar molds, photographs, maps, audio narration, and the displays of the Hall of Fame. See the full tour
Visit Us
9756 State Route 812, Croghan, NY 13327. Open seasonally from Memorial Day through early September. Plan your visit