Oswego County Historical Society
The Richardson-Bates House was completed in 1889 for a local attorney Maxwell Richardson.
The luxurious interiors, containing 95% of the original furnishings, portray the family’s wealth and Mr. Richardson’s position as ac civic leader in Oswego.

Maintained, as it appeared around 1890, with its exotic and opulent furniture and decorative arts, this National Register house offer s a unique glimpse at Victorian America’s fascination with history, art education, and travel.

The Oswego County Historical Society was incorporated in 1896 “to discover, to collect, to preserve, and to interpret materials and objects germane to the history of Oswego County’s historical resources.”

The Richard-Bates House Museum, owned and administered by the OCHS, is one of the most intact house museums in New York State, containing almost 90 percent of the of the original 19th century furnishings. The Richardson-Bates House Museum is a painted brick Italian villa style built in two sections(c. 1872, 1887-1889) for Maxwell Richardson (1838-1903). The circa 1872 north wing of the house was designed by Rochester, New York architect Andrew Jackson Warner.