The Historical Society

What The Historical Society does

The Historical Society, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit historical society founded in 1889, serving the villages of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, New York, from its headquarters in the historic Jacob Odell House (built 1848–1852, on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979). The organization collects, preserves, and exhibits local history through a museum, archives, library, and research services available by appointment; offers guided walking tours of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, the Old Dutch Church, and historic neighborhoods; and runs educational programs for local schoolchildren and community book clubs.

The Society operates a community-led go-to-market model, monetizing through tiered annual memberships ($30 Individual to $1,889 '1889 Society'), tax-deductible donations and bequests (including a dedicated Preservation Fund and Restoration Fund), event fundraisers (Annual Strawberry Festival, Wine Tasting & Preservation Awards, Washington Irving Birthday), book and merchandise sales, and research appointment fees. A $300,000 Jacob Odell House Restoration Campaign with tiered business sponsorships ($1,000–$50,000 over 5 years) is the largest current capital initiative. The Society has no proprietary technology, no digital products beyond a website, YouTube channel, Facebook, and Instagram presence, and operates with 1–10 employees, executing programming through a deep network of community, institutional, and municipal partners including Warner Library, Historic Hudson Valley, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, the Village of Sleepy Hollow, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Name

The Historical Society

Legal name

The Historical Society, Inc.

Website

https://thehistoricalsociety.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1889

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1889 that collects, preserves, and exhibits local history for the Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown communities through museum operations, archives, tours, educational programs, and community events from its National Register-listed Jacob Odell House headquarters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Heritage Preservation / Historical Society Services

NAICS

Historical Sites (71212), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Libraries and Archives (51921)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAHAA

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty)

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Arts, Culture & Heritage Nonprofits

SECONDARYBPAGAHAF

Libraries, Archives & Special Collections

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Arts, Culture & Heritage Nonprofits

SECONDARYTHAJADAB

History Museums

Travel & Hospitality/Tours, Attractions & Experiences/Museums, Galleries & Cultural Institutions

SECONDARYEDAEAGAJ

Archives, Special Collections & Preservation Operations (Rare Materials, Conservation)

Education/Education Facilities & Support Services/Library, Media Center & Learning Space Operations

Keywords

• Historical preservation services
• Museum and archives
• Community heritage education
• Historical walking tours
• Archival research services

Headquarters

HQ city

Tarrytown

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees at various tiers ranging from Individual ($30) to Life ($1000) and 1889 Society ($1889). Members receive free admission to exhibits, access to the library, member discounts on books and merchandise, and the newsletter 'The Chronicle'.
2. Donations and Bequests: Tax-deductible donations to the general fund and the Preservation Fund dedicated to restoring and maintaining the historic museum building at One Grove Street. The Society accepts planned gifts and bequests.
3. Event Fundraising: Revenue from community events including the Annual Strawberry Festival ($10/ticket), Wine Tasting events, Party on the Porch fundraisers, and various educational programs and tours ($25 for cemetery tours).
4. Book and Merchandise Sales: Sale of historical books including 'Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow in the 20th Century' and other publications. Members receive discounts on purchases.
5. Research Fees: Fees for research appointments and archival access for genealogists, historians, and researchers seeking information from the Society's collections.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Historical Society operates a museum, library, and archives from the historic Jacob Odell House in Tarrytown, collecting, preserving, and exhibiting the history of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. It sells guided historical walking tours, school educational programs, archival research services, recurring community events (notably the Annual Strawberry Festival and Washington Irving Birthday), a tiered membership program, historical book publications, and fundraising campaigns for the restoration of the Jacob Odell House and commemorative memorials.

Product overview

The Historical Society, Inc. is a non-profit historical society and museum organization serving Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, New York, founded in 1889. The organization operates from the historic Jacob Odell House and offers a range of services including museum visits, historical archives, guided tours, educational programs, and research services. Major annual events include the Strawberry Festival fundraiser and Washington Irving Birthday celebration. The society also publishes historical books, runs a membership program, and conducts preservation projects including the ongoing restoration of the Jacob Odell House. The Irving Bicentennial Celebration (2019-2020) commemorated the 200th anniversary of Washington Irving's The Sketch Book with a literary conference and community reading programs. The society maintains partnerships with Historic Hudson Valley, Warner Library, and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, and hosts various community programs including tours, book clubs, and youth educational activities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Museum and Archives Museum exhibit rooms, library, and archives housed in the historic Jacob Odell House (One Grove Street, Tarrytown), collecting, preserving, and exhibiting maps, manuscripts, photographs, and artifacts related to Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. Open to members free of charge on Thursdays and Saturdays from 2-4:30 PM.
• Historical Tours Guided walking tours of historic sites including Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, the Old Dutch Church and Burying Ground, and neighborhood tours such as 'There Goes the Neighborhood' featuring lantern-lit evening tours. For community members, school groups, and visitors.
• Educational Programs School programs and educational initiatives for children, including history education and community engagement activities delivered through the Society's education programs.
• Research Services Research services available by appointment for individuals seeking historical information about the Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow area. Research fees apply, with appointments scheduled by email through [email protected].
• Annual Strawberry Festival The annual Strawberry Festival is the Society's main community fundraiser featuring strawberry shortcake, live music, and family activities. Tickets are $10 per person.
• Washington Irving Birthday Celebration Annual celebration of Washington Irving's birthday at Christ Church San Marcos with cake, refreshments, and stories about the famous author.
• Membership Program Tiered annual membership program with categories Individual ($30), Family ($50), Sustaining ($100), Business ($100), Benefactor ($250), Life ($1,000), and 1889 Society ($1,889). Members receive free admission to exhibits, library access, member discounts on books and merchandise, and the newsletter 'The Chronicle'.
• Carving Legends Program Interactive program featuring gourd carving workshops with Jonas LG Karlsson and colonial gravestone walking tours with sculptor Robert Neal Carpenter at the Old Dutch Church Burying Ground.
• Jacob Odell House Restoration Campaign Capital fundraising campaign for the restoration of the historic Jacob Odell House (1848-1852), an Italianate-style building serving as the Society's headquarters since 1952. Sponsorship tiers: Patron $1,000, Diamond $5,000, Bronze $10,000, Silver $15,000, Gold $25,000, Platinum $50,000.
• Gold Star Mothers Memorial Memorial fundraising project to place a bronze memorial at Horan's Landing in Sleepy Hollow honoring Margaret J Horan, mother of John J Horan who was killed at Pearl Harbor.
• Irving Bicentennial Celebration 18-month bicentennial celebration (2019-2020) marking the 200th anniversary of Washington Irving's publication of The Sketch Book, including the Irving Literary Conference and 'Everybody's Reading The Legend' community reading program.
• Publication: Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow in the 20th Century Historical book available for sale at the museum documenting the history of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow in the 20th century. Members receive discounts on purchases.

Quantifiable outcome

• Events serve thousands of community members annually, with the Strawberry Festival being the Society's main fundraiser.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Warner LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsor of 'Everybody's Reading The Legend' program - a free book club session held multiple times during the 18-month Bicentennial Celebration. Warner Library provides free copies of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in English and Spanish for participants.
• Historic Hudson ValleycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner with The Historical Society in staging the Washington Irving Literary Conference (2020) celebrating the 200th Anniversary of The Sketch Book. Historic Hudson Valley co-organized the conference alongside Professor Andrew Burstein.
• Statewide Community Regrants Program / New York State Council on the ArtsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMatching grant from Statewide Community Regrants Program, a Regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with support from the Governor and New York State Legislature, administered by ArtsWestchester. Funding supports the Carving Legends program.
• Gold Star Mothers of Hudson ValleyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Gold Star Mothers of Hudson Valley led by President Vivian Allen for the Gold Star Mother Memorial campaign to honor Margaret J Horan, mother of John J Horan killed at Pearl Harbor. The Society facilitated the project at Horan's Landing park in Sleepy Hollow.
• Hudson River Patriots DARminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-sponsored the 2010 program 'The American Revolution in the Saw Mill River Valley' with speaker Roger Jewell and his book 'The Sawmill River Valley War'.
• CitibankminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHost venue for the 2013 Annual Meeting at Citibank's historic location on Broadway and Main Street in Tarrytown. Citibank provides refreshments and occupies the historic structure built in 1898.
• Village of Sleepy HollowcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerVillage trustees host ceremonial groundbreaking events and support bicentennial celebrations. The Society works with the Village for event logistics and historic preservation initiatives.
• Sleepy Hollow CemeterycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint tours of the Old Dutch Church and Burying Ground. Cooperative programming including 'There Goes the Neighborhood' walking tours led by Sara Mascia and Tara Van Tassell.
• Christ Church San MarcosminorGTM or Marketing PartnerJoint program presenter for Washington Irving Birthday celebration at the church where Irving worshiped and was a vestryman. Venue for the 2025 Washington Irving Birthday event.
• Westchester MarriottminorGTM or Marketing PartnerConference venue for the 2020 Irving Literary Symposium. Conference rate of $135/night secured for conference attendees. Located at 670 White Plains Rd, Tarrytown.
• Little Gardens of TarrytownminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of the annual Sunflower Planting Day community event for children, promoting environmental education and community engagement.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Warner Library: Warner Library is the local public library in Tarrytown and a co-programming partner (joint book clubs and bicentennial programs). It is an ecosystem participant rather than direct competitor, sharing community audience and educational mission.

Direct peers

• Boscobel House and Gardens: Boscobel is a National Register historic house museum in Cold Spring, NY, operating tours, exhibits, educational programs, and member-driven fundraising. It mirrors the small historic house museum + membership model the Historical Society uses from the Jacob Odell House.
• Historic Hudson Valley: Historic Hudson Valley operates Philipsburg Manor, Van Cortlandt Manor, and Sunnyside directly in the Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown market and is an active programming partner of The Historical Society. It is the most directly comparable regional heritage operator, sharing mission, geography, and overlapping audience for Washington Irving-themed tourism.
• Hudson River Museum: Hudson River Museum in Yonkers is a regional museum offering exhibits, educational programming, and community events in Westchester County. It operates at a larger scale but shares the same county geography, educational mission, and donor pool.
• Jay Heritage Center: Jay Heritage Center restores the John Jay estate in Rye, NY, and runs educational programming, restoration campaigns, and community events. It is structurally similar: a small nonprofit stewarding a National Register site in Westchester County.
• Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow: The Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow is a partner and co-programming site for The Historical Society's cemetery and Irving-themed walking tours. It is one of the most visited heritage sites in the region and an integral peer within the local Irving tourism ecosystem.
• Lyndhurst (National Trust for Historic Preservation): Lyndhurst is a Gothic Revival mansion in Tarrytown, NY—directly in the same town—operated by the National Trust. As a historic house museum in the immediate community, it competes for the same tourist, school, and member audiences.
• Westchester County Historical Society: The Westchester County Historical Society is the closest analog in structure and mission: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit historical society serving a defined county/region, with an archive, library, exhibits, and programming. Both organizations operate membership-based historical society models in the same New York metro geography.
• The Olana Partnership: Olana operates the Frederic Church historic estate as a museum and partner-operated cultural site along the Hudson River, combining preservation, tours, and educational programming. Its hybrid nonprofit/state-park model parallels The Historical Society's reliance on community support for a National Register property.

Regional players

• Katonah Museum of Art: Katonah Museum of Art is a small nonprofit museum in northern Westchester offering exhibits and educational programs. It overlaps in audience and operating model but focuses on art rather than history, making it a regional rather than direct peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC06x8kQzTsxyIAQDDfgq3tA
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/The-Historical-Society-serving-Sleepy-Hollow-and-Tarrytown/324643057817
• Instagraminstagram.com/sleepyhollowhistoricalsociety
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/historical-society-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Historical Society