The Leader-Herald/Richard Nilsen Charleston Town Historian Lorraine Whiting points out the grave marker of a former slave and subject of one of the historical markers she is responsible for erecting in the town June 18.

CHARLESTON — One local historian spins more than one kind of yarn. Town Historian Lorraine R. Whiting likes to tell stories about the history of the area and also is an avid wool yarn spinner. She said the town of Charleston once stretched to the shores of the Mohawk River. “In 1823, the town of Glen and part of the town of Root were created from the town of Charleston,” Whiting said in her book, “A Baker’s Dozen: The Historic Markers of the Town of Charleston, Montgomery County, NY,” published last year. She talked about her post in the little town where she said the activities of the historical society are often the “only show in town.” “I was appointed to the position of Charleston historian in 1994,” she said. “I do not receive any pay for the work I do, although I have a budget. I do not have an office, although I have storage room [display cabinets and file cabinet] at the Charleston Town Hall.