2020–New roofs, shelving and a crusie through Rice County history

2020

new roofs, shelving and a cruise through rice county history

Over the last year the Rice County His- last groups allowed to reopen, but we are proud to say that among torical the Minnesota museum community we were one of the first county So- historical societies to reopen in the state, opening on June 10. Thanks ciety to the work of volunteers, we have been able to modify our space has, to allow visitors to enjoy the gallery while still maintaining social like so distance. While our research room is still closed, we are handling many research requests remotely so that our community can continue to others, view and access their history. seen a Our successes don’t end at the museum itself. In late August we whirl- held a history cruise around the county, giving the community a wind of change. However, despite chance to learn about historic structures and the sites of the county. the changing times we have been This event drew people from as far away as Austin and Apple Valley. able to weather COVD-19 and ac- It was a great success, and as our goal is to help share the history of complish several goals within our the county it was a great way to engage our mission and help people organization. get outside in these isolating times. In the fall of 2019, RCHS was The Pleasant Valley School on the Rice County Fairgrounds is beawarded a Minnesota Historical and ing scraped of years of lead paint by volunteers, and is expect to be Cultural Heritage grant to purchase finished by next summer. Additionally, through the support of the and install new high-density mobile Faribault Housing and Redevelopment Authority we’ve also been able shelving in our building addition. to repair all of the windows in the west wing of the historic AlexanThese new shelves provide us with der Faribault House, repair trim in select places around the house and much needed space to continue to repaint the entire house. grow our collection for the future. Perhaps two of our biggest projects are yet to come. First, our log In April, two weeks after the cabin, situated on the Rice County Fairgrounds, is scheduled to have COVID pandemic struck, we began a new roof in October. Second, the Lockerby sheet metal family was the process of re-roofing our Harvest donated to us in September 2019 should also be up this fall. Through and Heritage halls, made possible by the tireless efforts of volunteers, fundraisers, and craftspeople we Rice County. These buildings had have been able to restore the whole family. We expect to have them some sizable leaks in the past, all of up and ready for viewing by end of the year. which are gone. This new roof al- The past 12 months have been a challenge for everyone, we are lows us to better protect the historic Guest Columnists grateful for the support we have received from the community and machines and other artifacts in the buildings. Museums were among one of the Susan Garwood & David Nichols the continued interest in our local history. Susan Garwood is Rice County Historical Society executive director, David Nichols is its curator. PROGRESS