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JAMESTOWN – Two historic homes in Jamestown were recognized by Chautauqua County for their partnership and efforts to attract visitors during the pandemic.
The Marvin Community House and Fenton History Center both received a certificate of recognition during a recent county legislature meeting for their ‘History and Homes Tour’ initiative.
Though the Marvin Community House mainly serves as a social club, former president and current member of the house June Diethrick says the effort aims to bring people back to the house following a year shut-in.
“We understood that to get people back to our house and our attraction and to Jamestown in general is that we need to take a step to try and make that happen,” said Diethrick.
Pre-pandemic, visitors were able to tour the former house of New York State Governor Reuben Fenton which now serves as a museum. As the Executive Director of the Fenton History Center Noah Goodling explains, this partnership now offers these tours at a significant discount.
“For the month of May only we’re running a special where you can go to both locations for $10. Usually, it would be $10 apiece to go to each location now it is $10 for both of them,” said Goodling.
These tickets, he says, can be purchased at either location and do not need to be used on the same day. Aside from the discount, both the Marvin House and the Fenton Center worked together to create a safe and interactive experience through self-guided tours that utilize QR codes around both locations.
“They can do this on their own, they walk from room to room, scan the QR code, hear a little bit about the room and we also have staff around (if) they have some questions, we’ll be able to help answer anything specific that they want to know,” said Diethrick.
The History and Homes Tour is open for visitors on Saturday’s from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. but the discount between the two locations will only be available until the end of the month.
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