Sugar Loaf Historical Society restores Hambletonian NYS marker
Sugar Loaf. The historical marker had decades of rust that made it difficult to read.
| 02 Oct 2023 | 04:42
The Hambletonian marker prior to any restoration work. (
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The Hambletonian marker freshly refurbished and painted, just waiting for the final lettering work. (
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If you drive down Sugar Loaf’s Hambletonian Road, just 1/4 mile east of the Warwick border, you may notice that something looks different: The New York State Historical marker for Hambletonian’s foaling has received a much-needed restoration thanks to the Sugar Loaf Historical Society’s months-long work, and a donation from The Hambletonian Society, which placed the marker there roughly 60 years ago.
Werner’s Ace Hardware of Florida donated the blue and yellow Rust-Oleum oil-based paints recommended by Catskill Castings, the marker’s manufacturer. The Sugar Loaf Historical Society relayed the many steps the restoration required: first the marker was deep-cleaned, then an electric wire brush removed the decades of rust that had corroded the iron. This was followed by a coating of Rust-Oleum “rust reformer,” which was followed by a ferrous oxide primer, and then an automotive sealing primer, before two coats of blue enamel were applied. Up next will be the final yellow lettering and framing coats, after which the Sugar Loaf Historical Society will hold an official rededication ceremony.
“While this marker wasn’t placed by the Sugar Loaf Historical Society, (The SLHS was more recently incorporated by the New York State Education Department in in 2007), the society sees restoration of these historical markers as falling within its purview and mission of honoring our past with real-time actions,” the Society explained in a recent update of the project. “The Sugar Loaf Historical Society understands that historical markers should be responsibly maintained by historical societies, or, when placed by municipal historians, by the office of those historians, so as never to fall into decay or disrepair. Repair and replacement of such markers is an activity for which municipal historians and historical societies should apply for William G. Pomeroy grants, if they can’t repair or restore them on their own.”
Hambletonian 10, foaled in Sugar Loaf on May 5, 1849, was a founding sire of the standardbred horse breed.
The Sugar Loaf Historical Society thanked the Hambletonian Society for its “dedication to keeping our hamlet’s stallion’s legend alive, and for their donation toward our restoration work.”