Our mission:
The mission of Forsyth-Warren Tavern Living History Farm and Museum is to preserve the frontier settlement of Warren’s Corners, the Forsyth-Warren Tavern and Farm, developing the site as a living history museum, to interpret the role played by taverns in the settlement of Western New York, to provide a regional educational, cultural and historic resource, to preserve local history, and to assist visitors, students, and scholars in understanding significant lives and events comprising the site’s history. We pursue this mission by preserving and protecting the area’s physical and intellectual assets and sharing them with the widest possible audience, whether on our campus or through outreach programs.
About the Museum
The Forsyth-Warren Farm is significant as an intact example of an early nineteenth century pioneer homestead from the first phase of Euro-American settlement of the Niagara Frontier. Prior to the War of 1812, the Niagara Frontier had a number of small taverns, the nearest of which was located in the small neighboring hamlet of Molyneaux Corners, several miles to the west on the Ridge Road. Few, if any, small wood framed taverns dating from this earliest period of pioneer settlement of western New York remain. Despite minor modifications both the former tavern and its associated barn retain the basic elements of their architectural integrity in terms of their setting, design and construction. Warrens Corners remains a small, rural hamlet much as it did during the early years of the tavern’s existence. Both the tavern and barn are representative of the building style used in a pioneer setting during the first years of the nineteenth century. Building materials used in their construction were obtained and processed locally and the pioneer homestead comprised by the tavern and barn exemplify the Jeffersonian notion of the independent farmer as the bastion of democracy. Historically, the Forsyth Tavern is part of the great westward expansion from the Atlantic coast into the interior regions of the continent. It is historically significant for its association with John Forsyth and Ezra Warren, early settlers who founded the hamlet of Warren’s Corners. The property is further significant for its association with the War of 1812 when soldiers were housed in the tavern and the barn was used to store supplies.
