CLIFTON PARK — Saratoga County’s most populated town is best known for housing developments emblematic of suburbia. But the town also has a rich history, and there is an effort underway to unearth some of it at Historic Grooms Tavern and the adjacent former blacksmith shop on Sugar Hill Road.
No one is sure if the some two dozen volunteers will find anything of significance before the archaeological dig wraps up on July 9, but that is nearly a secondary objective. It is also meant, said Brian McGlinchey, of the Friends of Historic Grooms Tavern, to bring attention to the town’s history and, in particular, efforts to raise money for much needed repairs at the blacksmith shop.
“They needed a place to dig, and we needed something to attract people and create awareness,” he said. “This is part of our history.”
The blacksmith shop is in dreadful disrepair and in dire need of a new roof and rafters, McGlinchey said. There has not been a final figure put on the cost of renovating the structure, but extensive work is necessary to restore it to the degree of the tavern — built by James Groom in 1825 and where the town of Clifton Park was incorporated in 1828.
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