A YEAR ago, the Monroe County River Museum was just a dream. Today it is a reality, thanks to the hard work of a group of dedicated volunteers, and it will be open to visitors for two days during the Labor Day weekend.
Barbara Rush, curator for the museum, said it all started when members of the tourism committee of Team Monroe suggested that the county should have its own river museum. The committee began working last August to collect items and prepare the site.
"The Ohio Valley Community Credit Union was gracious enough to allow us the use of their building," Rush said. "We'll pay just a dollar a year for the first five years to rent what is a great place to host our museum."
Part of the building remains a drive-through facility for the credit union, but the former office and main lobby space are open after the credit union moved its offices to Hannibal several years ago. Rush said the building, which is located at 112 Ferry St. in Clarington, is less than 50 years old and needed just a few repairs and some cosmetic work such as painting in preparation before moving in.
"We started with just a few steamboat models and a lot of photographs," Rush said. "And we are really excited about all of the things we have received, there are so many donated and loaned that we are trying to identify."
Several professionals, including historian Fred McCabe of Hannibal and Monroe County resident Jane Roth Williams, are helping to verify the authenticity of the items collected.
"Williams has a degree in museum science and has worked in museums all over the country," Rush said. "The riverboat room is one of our permanent exhibits, and she has been a priceless asset to getting that together." The exhibit is a tribute to a time when the river was a cultural link to entertainment, music and theatre via the riverboats.
"Some articles in the riverboat room are on loan from the Ohio Historical Society," said Williams, who is proud to be part of the museum committee. "We want to get people excited and interested in the rich cultural history of the river."
Museum President Taylor Abbott said that McCabe is a treasure of river information and memorabilia. "Fred McCabe has the second largest privately owned collection of river memorabilia in the country," said the young Abbott, who is a living link to the history of the river.
The museum's first exhibit developed was based on Clarington's boat-building history, and Abbott is the great-great grandson of Reuben Thomas, chief engineer of the Mississippi Valley Barge Line and co-founder of the Clarington-Wheeling Packet Co.
His great-grandfather Elmer Thomas worked for the Mozena Brothers Boat Yard in Clarington, where the packet boat Liberty was built.
A model of the steamboat along with blueprints and tools of the shipbuilding trade are featured in the boat-building room.
There is a community exhibit room, which is currently featuring Clarington memories. "The Labor Day Weekend will be the last for this exhibit," Rush said. "We will continue to use the room to feature memories from communities along the river in Monroe County, changing it periodically. "
The main lobby of the museum has several photos, models and historical items from the all important mail boats and packet boats that supplied both the communities along the river and those inland communities linked to the river, first by road and then by rail. A painting by Charles Sullivan of 1834 Clarington is a prized possession that hangs in prominence along the wall and part of the steering wheel of the steamboat Leroy stands proudly above the museum's motto, "Where the river and the past meet to form our future."
"It takes time to make believers out of skeptics," Rush said, "We are working with Team Monroe and will apply for grants through them to make the museum handicapped accessible, and then we can open on a permanent basis." The group will have its 501C3 in place shortly and then grants monies can be solicited, and the museum hopes to have construction completed early next year.
The museum will be open Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 4 and 5, from noon to 4 pm.
"The museum invites all of the River High School alumni to stop by Saturday on the way to their reunion banquet," said Rush, adding that the Clarington Volunteer Fire Department will be host for a "Cruise-In" car show Sunday in conjunction with the museum opening from noon to 4 p.m., featuring a disc jockey, music and food provided by the fire department.
Rush said the committee meets at 7 p.m. on the last Thursday of each month at the museum site. Anyone who is interested in volunteering or obtaining more information is welcome to attend. The museum also has recently launched a Web site; www.monroecountyrivermuseum.org.
Palmer can be reached at mpalmer@timesleaderonline.com.
