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The Miner Institute Online Archives is a historical collection focused on William Henry and Alice Trainer Miner, their beloved Heart’s Delight Farm, and their philanthropic acts. The collection is an accompaniment to the Heart’s Delight Farm Heritage Exhibit located at Miner Institute in Chazy, NY.

William Miner was a self-made millionaire, inventor, and entrepreneur. Miner’s innovative railroad appliances have been installed on thousands rail cars since his first patent in 1891. In 1903 the Miners established Heart’s Delight Farm in Chazy, NY on William’s ancestral homestead. The modest 144-acre farm with a handful of buildings was transformed into a 12,000-acre demonstration farm with property stretching from the shores of Lake Champlain to Chazy Lake in the northern Adirondack mountains. Approximately 300 buildings were erected and/or renovated, many during the farm’s first ten years. More than 800 employees were employed by Heart’s Delight Farm at its peak. The farm had a wide array of domestic and wild animals, crops, and hydroelectric power projects. Heart’s Delight Farm was recognized as a model farm attracting visitors from around the world.

Both William and Alice were orphans with no surviving children of their own. Even so, the Miners sought to improve the life of rural upstate New York. The Miners established one of New York State’s first centralized school districts in 1916 and helped fund the construction and running of a state-of-the-art hospital in Plattsburgh. The Miners founded The Alice T. Miner Museum in Chazy and the Kent-Delord House in Plattsburgh. Miner Institute was founded in 1951 as a manifestation of William Miner’s philosophy and principles once embodied on Heart’s Delight Farm.

Browse the Miner Institute Online Archives.

For an in depth look at special topics, visit our Curated Collections.