About the Rensselaer County Historical Society
The Rensselaer County Historical Society was established in 1927 to connect local history and heritage with contemporary life, originally operating out of a single room in the Troy Public Library, where it collected manuscripts and published materials related to the county's past. In 2019 the organization adopted a new public name, the Hart Cluett Museum at Historic Rensselaer County, and it continues today as a not-for-profit educational organization that collects, preserves, and interprets materials documenting Troy and Rensselaer County.
The 1827 Hart-Cluett House
The museum's centerpiece is the Hart-Cluett House at 57 Second Street, a Federal-style townhouse built in 1827 by William Howard, a wealthy New York City merchant and banker, as a gift for his daughter Betsey Howard Hart and her husband Richard P. Hart. Its distinctive marble facade, with stone presumed to have come from a Berkshire quarry near Great Barrington, Massachusetts, is considered one of the finest and most intact examples of the style in Troy. Betsey Hart lived in the house until her death in 1886, and in 1892 it was purchased by George B. Cluett, founder of Cluett, Peabody & Co., the Troy makers of Arrow shirts. His nephew Albert E. Cluett acquired the home in 1910, and in 1952 Caroline Cluett donated it to the historical society. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1973.
The downtown Troy campus comprises three connected spaces: the Hart-Cluett House, which serves as a historic house museum with guided tours; the Carr Building, which hosts changing exhibits, public programs, and an extensive research library available by appointment; and a Carriage House with permanent gallery displays. Through these collections and programs the museum documents the Collar City's industrial rise and the everyday lives of the people of Rensselaer County.
Plan Your Visit
The Hart Cluett Museum is located at 57 Second Street in downtown Troy, New York 12180, with guided house tours offered on Fridays and Saturdays and the research library open by appointment. For current gallery hours, tour times, and admission, visit hartcluett.org.
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