Welcome to the 1890 House and Center for the Victorian Arts

The 1890 House Museum and Center for the Victorian Arts is located in the heart of downtown Cortland, New York. Originally built by Cortland Industrialist Chester Wickwire, the home was lived in by his descendents until 1973.

Facade of the 1890 House
The Wickwire story is just one among hundreds of nifty, engaging, and surprising things you'll discover at the 1890 House Museum.
Young Mr. Wickwire sitting on a garden ornament in about 1892

From our lavishly decorated, artifact-filled, period rooms to our ornate, guilded-era interior and exterior architecture, to our exhibits covering everything from Victorian-era recreation to 19th-Century contruction techniques, there is literally something at the 1890 House Museum and Center for the Victorian Arts for everyone.

So, stop in and find out why the 1890 House Museum is "where history lives!"