New York State Parks Announces New Visitor Center at Herkimer Home State Historic Site

Opening Scheduled for Spring 2027 to Mark Anniversary of Key Revolutionary War Battle in the Mohawk Valley  

Center Replaces Aging 1970s Facility  

The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation today announced construction is underway on a new visitor center at the Herkimer Home State Historic Site, the former Mohawk Valley home of a Revolutionary War general who died from battle wounds. This new visitor center is replacing a facility dating from the 1970s in a converted barn and will better meet the needs and interests of 21st century visitors.  

“The new visitor center, with enhanced and updated exhibits, will open in time to mark next year’s 250th anniversary of the Battle of Oriskany,” New York State Parks Commissioner Kathy Moser said. “This work will help visitors better understand the role that Nicholas Herkimer and people of the region played to help win independence for the United States. I encourage New Yorkers to visit the Herkimer Home and our many historic sites across the state discover the critical role our state played in the American Revolution.”  

The $400,000 project is expected to be complete by spring 2027. The new center will include exhibits developed under the ‘Our Whole History’ initiative to tell more stories of the Revolution from other groups including the enslaved, Native Americans, and immigrant Palatine Germans. There will be an expanded gift shop, audio visual room, and four single-use bathrooms, one of which will be accessible from outside so the site will have a bathroom available to Empire State Trail users and other visitors after hours. A second phase of the project will construct new administrative offices, which currently share space with the current visitor center in the converted barn. 

The OPRHP Central Region Capital Facilities Construction Crew was general contractor. Post and beam framing was done by RLS Structures Inc, of Cato, NY.  

Herkimer, the grandson of German Palatine immigrants, was a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the Revolution. He was badly wounded in August 1777 in the Battle of Oriskany, in current-day Oneida County to the southwest of the city of Rome. Herkimer died of his wounds in his home several days later. This battle was part of the western front of the British Saratoga Campaign, which ended as a strategic Patriot victory that helped convince France to offer military aid to the Americans. 

Herkimer’s home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been a state historic site since 1913. Herkimer’s grave is on the 160-acre historic site, which remains open during construction and also offers a picnic area, hiking trails, and scheduled living history events. 

Next summer, from August 3-8, there will be series of programs at Herkimer Home, including a reenactment of Herkimer’s march to Oriskany. Camps will be created at overnight locations along the 40-mile march. 

The Battle of Oriskany will be reenacted at Herkimer Home and various demonstrations and programs will take place including Native American culture and perspective on the Battle and the Revolutionary War. That will be followed presentations of Revolutionary surgery, and a reenactment of General Herkimer’s funeral procession. 

New York manages 45 state historic sites and parks connected to the American Revolution. These sites are hosting special exhibitions, offering dynamic programs, showcasing preservation projects, sharing digital resources and more. 

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 parks, historic sites, recreational trails, golf courses, boat launches and more, and welcomes over 86 million visitors annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, visit parks.ny.gov, download the free NY State Parks Explorer app or call 518.474.0456. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, the OPRHP Blog or via the OPRHP Newsroom.