Webster has a long and interesting history, and much of it has found a home at the Webster Museum. As the repository and caretaker of our town’s rich history, the museum has preserved thousands of old photographs, artifacts, documents and stories, especially from our pioneer days, which illustrate how our community came to be what it is today.
That’s a lot of old stuff. But among their collections, the museum reminds us that the history of the lands on which we now live stretches much farther back than the days of our pioneer founders. And they have some really old stuff to prove it.
The star of the really-old-stuff show is a wooly mammoth molar, discovered in the late 1970s on State Rd., when workmen were digging a cellar for a farmhouse. It dates back roughly 8,000 years, serving as a unique reminder of the Ice Age megafauna that once roamed Monroe County and the surrounding region in the prehistoric years.
The treasured artifact has recently been awarded a more prominent position in the museum’s main lobby, and is now displayed in its very own custom-built display case, crafted by Museum and Historical Society president Tom Pellett. It’s pretty much front-and-center in the lobby, finally in a home worthy of its status as one of the most remarkable pieces in the museum’s collection.
So next time you’re in the area, stop into the museum and take a step back into a fascinating chapter of Webster’s prehistoric past. And while you’re there, make sure to check out another ancient piece of history, a mortar and pestle discovered on a Bay Rd. which is at least 5,000 years old.
The Webster Museum is located at 18 Lapham Park in the Village of Webster. It’s open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Visit the website at webstermuseum.org to learn more.
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(posted 11/15/2026)
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