Meet the Miners
A Pioneering Family’s Continued Legacy
Tucked away in the Adirondack coast, William H. Miner’s vision lies in 8,600 acres of land. His dream that Heart’s Delight Farm would one day become an agricultural and educational research facility has come true. As the years pass, the farm, now called the Miner Institute, continues to grow and change.
“The Miner Institute and the Alice T. Miner Museum wouldn’t be where they are today without the past, so in order to understand the importance, we must understand the past,” said Rachel Dutil, the public relations and marketing coordinator for the Miner Institute.
William H. Miner is a celebrity in the North Country. He was an agriculturalist, philanthropist, builder, educator, entrepreneur and beloved husband to Alice T. Miner. William had many successes throughout the years, but did not pursue his dream of starting Heart’s Delight Farm until realizing he needed to fill a void after suffering a major loss.
In Chicago, 1902, Alice gave birth to their first and only child. The baby did not survive labor. Trying to find peace, William and Alice moved back to where William had grown up with his Uncle John and Aunt Huldah, on the Miner farm in West Chazy, New York. In the old family home, they would create a place for the community, because that is what they needed most.
William spent six long years renovating the farm.
“By 1918, the farm had grown to 12,000 acres—4,000 acres of tillable land, 2,000 acres of pasture and 6,000 acres of woodland,” Dutil said.
During this time, William also worked on other projects, such as building the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, Chazy Elementary School and over 100 buildings at his Heart’s Delight Farm.
While William was busy with bettering the town of Chazy, Alice needed to find a hobby. Her friends suggested collecting antiques, which eventually led to her starting the Alice T. Miner Museum.
The museum officially opened in 1924, after William bought Alice the “Old Stone House” in the center of West Chazy because Alice’s collection had grown beyond their well-sized home. Today, the 13-room stone house holds sentimental items from Alice’s early-20th-century life, such as furniture, books, clothing and over 600 pieces of glass in the third-floor ballrooms.
“The museum has had minor renovations because it is over 100 years old, although we do our best to keep everything in its original place,” said Ellen Adams, Alice T. Miner Museum’s director and curator.
For Alice, who struggled with postpartum depression after losing her baby, this museum was an escape from her mental health struggles in a time when mental health awareness was not common. This gave Alice an opportunity to contribute to the Miner heritage.
“Alice ran the museum herself until her death in 1950. Since then there’s been a museum director,” Adams said.
Today the Miners’ legacy is still celebrated. The museum is “open from May through the end of October, typically just weekdays from nine 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. But we do, of course, have the museum open if we are hosting some sort of other public events,” Dutil said.
The museum and the farm also serve as community centers for the people of Chazy and neighboring towns.
“One event we are working on is our Summer Camp for ages eight and up,” Adams said. This four-day camp will assist in bringing more awareness to the museum and life in the time of Alice and William.
Building on the vision of the Miners, the Alice T. Miner Museum and the Miner Institute continue to provide a space for people to visit and for locals to gather.
To learn more about The Alice T. Miner museum visit https://www.minermuseum.org/ or tour the museum located at 9618 State Route 9, Chazy, NY 12921. If you are interested in William H. Miner and his successes, visit https://www.whminer.org/ to learn about all of their facilities and programs.
