About Us

The American Maple Museum was founded in 1977 to preserve the history and evolution of the North American maple syrup industry.

The former Leo Memorial School was acquired in 1980 through a generous gift from Robert and Florence Lamb. The Lambs have also contributed much of their personal collection of antique syrup making equipment, logging tools and antiques to the museum. Other artifacts have been gathered from maple syrup regions across the U.S. and Canada.

Those who founded this institution set out to collect the tools and equipment used to make maple sugar and syrup, from the earliest times to the present. The core groups were, and still are, from Lewis County but several others from across the maple region also joined in creating this repository of artifacts and written documents.

At the museum's annual opening ceremonies in May, two people, selected by the North American Maple Syrup Council, are inducted into the American Maple Hall of Fame. Members in this select group are from both the U.S. and Canada.

The American Maple Museum is a non-profit organization chartered (Absolute Charter) by the NY State Board of Regents and is recognized by the North American Maple Syrup Council and the International Maple Syrup Institute.

Major funding for the museum is from breakfasts of pancakes, sausage and pure maple syrup served in our own dining room by volunteers interested in maple history and production.