ALTAMONT — With the recent donation of a bronze plaque to the Altamont Free Library, the Altamont Community Tradition has kicked off a program to increase public awareness of Altamont’s historic buildings and encourage their preservation.
"ACT has been focusing on historic preservation for the past year," said ACT board member Linda Cure. "One of the things we wanted to do is highlight the historic district in Altamont."

The citizens’ group is offering plaques, for about $140, to owners of the 38 homes and buildings in the historic district, between Thacher Drive and the old train station, the future site of the library.

Each building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The plaques are each 7 inches by 11 inches, oval-shaped, with beveled edges and black backgrounds. They include the date of construction of the building, and the name of the builder or the person for whom it was built.

The library’s plaque for the train station names the Delaware & Hudson Railroad Co. as the original owners in 1897.

Homeowners don’t need to gather the information for the plaques, Cure said; ACT will do it for them.
"We go through the records," Cure said.

ACT will be consulting with the village historian on the project, Cure said.

The idea is, Cure said, if homeowners and neighbors learn more about the history of their homes and their neighborhood, they will be more interested in preserving that history.

This is phase one of the project, Cure said.
"If the program does take off, we would look into the possibility of expanding the historic district in Altamont," she said.

Already, Cure said, ACT received calls from people interested in purchasing plaques. For more information, she said, call ACT at 861-6939 or 861-0243.