How the Village of Gilbertsville was saved from the Army Corps of Engineers

An ambitious flood control project could have flooded the village of Gilbertsville permanently, but the residents of Gilbertsville fought back and won.

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Leigh Eckmair

THE REAL MVPs - “I think I was born to be a historian. My first word wasn’t mama or dada… it was ‘why?’”
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We walked across the street to the post office. A man was walking his dog and waved to Leigh. Another car drove past and they waved as well. “So, do you know everyone in town?” I asked. “Just about.” She answered. Sitting down and talking to Leigh Eckmair was just like opening a history book, but with a lot more personality and hidden stories. Leigh is the historian for the Village of Gilbertsville and Town of Butternuts, and ended up in Gilbertsville because of her late husband Frank Eckmair. Don't be surprised if you recognize Frank’s name. Frank was and still is an internationally recognized printmaker, who had an intimate affinity for the quiet landscape of rural central New York, that’s reflected in his work. Leigh gushed over her husband’s accomplishments, and listed the several museums around the world his work now lives in. When they came to visit and later live in Frank’s hometown of Gilbertsville, Leigh quickly got involved with a research project to stop a plan that would install 46 dams in Upstate New York - 3 being in and around Gilbertsville, creating a seven mile long lake by flooding the entire village and most of the Butternut Valley and 4,000 years of Native American civilization. This, along with the historic architecture, is what made the entire Village of Gilbertsville qualify as a National Historic Landmark. Their work saved the village.