An official Path Through History Site! A designated National Historic Landmark, circa 1872 Italianate Villa, with five period rooms featuring 90% original furnishings, and county history exhibit. The Richardson-Bates House was built in two stages as a private residence for Maxwell B. Richardson, a local attorney, real estate broker, and civic leader. In 1867, Max commissioned Rochester architect Andrew Jackson Warner to design the Tuscan Villa style residence for him and his family. A lifelong bachelor, Max lived here with his widowed mother Naomi Richardson, his divorced sister Harriet Richardson Bates and her son Norman Bates. Norman Bates was the sole heir to the Richardson family and inherited the house in 1910. He lived here with his wife Florence and their four children, Betty, Norman Jr., Sally and Max. After the death of Norman's widow Florence in 1945, her three surviving children donated the house and 90 percent of the original furnishing and contents to the Oswego County Historical Society for use as a public museum in memory of their family. Today it is home to the Oswego County Historical Society's collection of nearly 25,000 artifacts, documents and photographs commemorating the significant history of the area. The downstairs is preserved with the original furnishings of the period.
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