Displays

I’ve been involved with the Chestnut Ridge Historical Society in Stahlstown, Pennsylvania. For almost 2 months, I’ve been sorting, storing, and straightening files, ledgers, and artifacts. I just finished redoing the photographs and information on local churches, cemeteries, and towns. They are now in alphabetical order and should be easier to find. Several drawers were packed so tightly, it was difficult to actually search through the stored documents to find anything specific. The contents of the drawers are now separated and divided into smaller categories of businesses, mines, railroads, iron furnaces and people for the different locales. There are still tasks ahead and can hardly wait to search through more items.

This past Saturday a young man was in the process of buying a house in a nearby community. He was seeking any information or photographs of the house or the surrounding area. Since I’d just recently gone through the archived documents, I was able to pull several folders with information and photos of that town for him to review. As we talked, he said that he collected some military memorabilia and lingered to look at the photographs hanging on the walls and examine the displays in our cases. He was impressed enough that he decided to join our organization.

We have just finished a display of Mill Run, Pennsylvania, including some old postcards of the metal bridge and reservoir, Camp Christian (formerly Killarney Park), articles of the area, and a collage of Frank Lloyd Wright’s creation, Fallingwater. Fallingwater was the home he created for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family. The house is cantilevered over the hillside and stream below.

Another lady and I are making plans to eventually change the other displays in the cases. We want to continue to honor our military by revamping the 2 display cases already in use and rearranging the photographs. We want to exhibit the schools of the area, including many that are no longer there. We are hoping to do a display of souvenir plates and Bibles over the years. It all takes time and a bit of effort, but we certainly plan to make the Historical Society a place to visit and keep interest of the past alive.