Rogers Center History
The Early Years
Pre-1788 - The land is part of the traditional and ancestral territories of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The Haudenosaunee, specifically the Oneidas, have stewarded and maintained a deep relationship with these lands for thousands of years. European settlers began arriving in the late 18th century, and various treaties and agreements were made, though often under conditions that did not recognize or honor the rights and sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee people.
1909 - New York State Forest, Fish and Game Commission builds a pheasant farm in Sherburne.
The state buys 168 acres of land along the Chenango River for the original game farm. Sherburne game farm is the first game farm established in New York State. Harry and Gertrude Rogers become the first managers of the game farm.
1933 - The Civilian Conservation Corps, housed at Adams Farm, builds flood barriers, ponds, roads, and trails on the farm property.
1948 - The Sherburne Pheasant Farm is renamed Rogers State Game Farm to recognize the efforts of Harry and Gertrude Rogers.
The Middle Years
1963 - The New York Forest, Fish and Game Commission phases out the game farm and Sherburne considers a nature center.
Led by president John Borst, the Sherburne Rotary Club funds a nature center feasibility study conducted by the National Audubon Society. The game farm property is proposed as the logical location for the nature center.
1966 - New York State accepts the National Audubon Society Proposal.
The New York State Department of Conservation (DEC) receives $100,000 to develop the center and hire the center’s first director, John A. Weeks.
1968 - The New York State Conservation Department opens its first educational visitor center to the public, called Rogers Conservation Education Center.
The Center’s objectives are to educate the public about the environment, as well as New York State Conservation Department policies and concerns.
The Later Years
1970 - Rogers Conservation Center is renamed Rogers Environmental Education Center.
Staffed and financially supported by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Rogers Center offers exhibits, programs, school outreach, and events to educate the community about the environment. The public uses the facilities in many ways; through school day visits, overnight and summer camp visits, cooperative programs with 4-H, Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of the USA, and other groups and family visits - both formal and informal.
2010 - A New York State fiscal crisis shuts down the center. The center is closed on December 31, 2010 after New York State implements severe budget cuts.
Today
2011 to Present - Friends of Rogers 501(c)(3) works out an agreement with New York State to assume responsibility for operating the center.
Friends of Rogers is a not for profit group working to support Rogers Center activities and events since 1968. Originally known as Mid-York Conservation Fund, it was renamed Friends of Rogers in 1995. In 2011, Friends of Rogers signed a Use and Occupancy Agreement with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation authorizing Friends of Rogers to continue its original mission, keeping the Visitor Center open, with programming available to the public using financial support provided by the community.
