There was once a time when Port Chester boasted a thriving Historical Society. Back in the 1980s, the group met in the Village-owned Bush-Lyon Homestead, one of Port Chester's few pre-Revolutionary War homes (also listed on the National Register of Historic Places). The Port Chester Historical Society opened the Bush-Lyon Homestead and its memorabilia to visitors on a regular schedule. In the late 1990s, an aging membership led to a less active Port Chester Historical Society and the eventual shuttering of the Bush-Lyon Homestead. The Homestead and its contents have been inaccessible to visitors ever since, and have been collecting dust and dirt for over 10 years.

Port Chester is celebrating its Sesquicentennial Anniversary this year (2018), creating a renewed interest in the history of the village. The Sesquicentennial Citizens Committee has earmarked June 30 as "History Day" and has expressed a desire to open the Bush-Lyon Homestead to visitors on this day. However, the building and its contents must be cleaned and organized in order to accommodate visitors. It has been the work of a Port Chester Girl Scout, who is completing her Gold Award Project, to spearhead the re-opening of the Bush-Lyon Homestead. She has cleaned the Homestead interior, organized the memorabilia, trained docents and arranged tours for History Day, educated visitors about this building as it relates to our local history, and plans to hold an interest meeting for the possible relaunching of the Port Chester Historical Society. To ensure all residents can continue to learn about our history after her project is complete, she intends to create a virtual (video) walking tour that will be posted on the Village website.

The Girl Scout leading this project selected this project because she grew up playing in Lyon Park, which sits behind the Bush-Lyon Homestead. She remembers peering into the windows of the closed building and imagining what life must have been like in the 1750’s when the house was new and a family lived there. She has always been sad that the house has been neglected for so many years and that families can’t take their kids there to learn about our local history the way they used before it closed.

She also picked this project because a member of the Sesquicentennial Citizens Committee told her that they have earmarked June 30th as “History Day” and that they would love to open the Homestead to visitors on that day. They explained that they are seeking a leader who can organize a group of people to get the house ready for the public and create the materials needed to create an educational experience for visitors.