Thursday, July 23, 2015

Dishes and Parlor

The dishes are stored in the Butler Pantry.
The photo above was taken in the 1960s. And the photo below
was taken in 2014.
When I became Curator in 2006, I had a great time going through the collection - the dishes, vases, glass pitchers and soup tureens and little glass souvenirs, and etc.. I carefully inspected each one, cleaned it, documented it and placed it back in the cabinet...arranging the pieces in a way that I considered to give it the best exposure.

 
Below is a corner of the Parlor as it looked in 1967...

 
...and this is a shot of the same wall, with a wider camera angle, in 2013.
(Photo Credit Judi Barr)
When I started visiting the museum many years ago, the parlor walls were painted a bright red, which was not unusual for Victorian décor, but the window treatments at that time were of poor quality and the walls were cluttered with way too much art work, portraits and framed documents having to do with local history. It was simply too busy. I remember the first time I visited after the "face lift" in 2000. Most of the interior rooms got new paint, wallpaper and window treatments and the new Curator thinned out a LOT of the clutter. I enjoyed browsing the rooms much more because I felt I could see much more!

Monday, July 20, 2015

Built outside of the city

The address is 1004 E. Market Street, Logansport, Indiana, which is east from the downtown, on the main thoroughfare, but would've been outside city limits at the time it was built in 1853. Elementary students are encouraged to try to imagine how the property might have looked back then, mostly wooded, dirt main road, the hand pump outdoor used on a daily basis.


 
The staircase greets visitors as they open the front door to the home/museum.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

The beginnings of the museum's current location.

 
The Jerolaman-Long Home, built in 1853 for Dr. George Jerolaman, became "home" to the CCHS museum in 1967. It was donated by the Benjamin Long family at that time. This is the 3rd home for the museum since the CCHS was formed in 1907. First there were rooms in the Logansport City Building, next, in 1954 the museum was housed in the home of the first Mayor, Jordan Vigus.

 
Interior of the museum circa 1967. This is the library.

 
This is the master bedroom as it appeared in 1967.

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