The Cobblestone Society & Museum

Legal name: Cobblestone Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
160979095
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2017
Location
Albion, NY, United States
Phone
(585) 589-9013
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$540,206
Expenses
$214,208
Assets
$1,568,180
Liabilities
$1,953

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DICK REMLEY (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MATT HOLLAND (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DOUG FARLEY (DIRECTOR): $60,580 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Cobblestone Museum is a National Historic Landmark rooted in the history of cobblestone masonry and committed to the preservation and promotion of Western New York history, art, and ... Active Military FREE Please allow 2 hours for a full guided tour The tour includes a full or partial guided tour of the Cobblestone Church (1834), Ward House (1836), Schoolhouse (1849), Upper Gallery, Farmers Hall, Print Shop, Harness Shop, Vagg House and Blacksmith Shop. Museum Members FREE Kids (12 and under accompanied by Adult) FREE Active Military FREE. []( "Share on Linkedin") About our museum The Cobblestone Museum is an open-air museum that promotes the study and exploration of cobblestone construction methods from 1825 to 1860, offering visitors the opportunity to explore three period cobblestone structures set in Victorian appearance and four wood structures highlighting 19th century...

What it reported doing in 2025

Educate interested parties of the local history & lore in particular the cobblestone style of early american construction which is unique to upstate ny.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 40.5%; rating input score 40
  • Program expense ratio: 91.5%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 60.3%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.32; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.3%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 40.5% of revenue deployed · 91.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $196K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $61K · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.