Published: January 24, 2008 11:05 am         

Frostburg has a museum, community involved

A museum in Frostburg? - There are still some people who are surprised to discover that the old Hill Street School building is now the official repository of the town's history, and that it can be visited - free of charge - five afternoons every week and by appointment at other times.

The Museum Association has been in existence for more than 30 years, although several times it has been on the brink of disbanding. Each time, however, it has come through with renewed energy, making, as they say, lemonade from a superabundance of lemons.

Unlike many museums, which develop from a private collection or benefit from a generous endowment, the Frostburg Museum is a home-grown institution, dependent on local people who give volunteer service, provide information and artifacts and supplement their annual dues with appropriate donation.

The museum was the brain-child of George Wehler, for many years the pastor of Salem United Church of Christ. He had worked his way through college doing painting and paper-hanging, and here in Frostburg he continued that sideline with a store on Main Street and first-class workmanship in local residences. He had opportunities to see that when houses changed hands, or nonagenarians moved on, boxes and piles of discards were carried to the curb for removal along with the trash. Some of them were probably worth saving - but where?

Mr. Wehler approached the city council with a suggestion. They were no longer using the big room over the fire department for regular meetings: Could it be turned into a holding area for town memorabilia? The Mayor and Council considered the idea, and suggested a trade-off: If Pastor Wehler would accept the chairmanship of a newly-mandated Historic District Commission he could have the room.

Mr. Wehler accepted the proposal. He set up a meeting with people he knew to be interested in history, collected $3 from each of them to cover possible postage costs, got the city attorney to draw up the necessary documents to make it a non-profit corporation and began toting boxes from the Hitchins and Jeffries houses to the room on Water Street.

I was one of a small group who unpacked those first boxes. A volunteer curator had drawn up a donation form - name, address, age and origin of the item giver - but what I distinctly remember was that each was supposed to fit into a category, which, in the case of deeds and bills and correspondence, were lumped together as "Paper.''

We had no idea that we were handling prime sources of information on coal mining (Mr. Jeffries had been on early coal-baron) and road building (W.E.G. Hitchins had been on the Board of a Good Roads organization - on which Harry Truman represented Missouri - 30 years before President Eisenhower initiated our interstate system).

Before our naiveté had done any serious damage, George Wehler was joined by Ralph Race and Fred Morton to approach the county commissioners. Hill Street School had been superseded by Frost Elementary and the building reverted to the commissioners.

Would they deed it to the city for a museum? The answer was, yes - but since the Museum Association had no funds for heating or maintaining the building, the city of Frostburg took title.

The city fathers allotted rent-free space in the basement to the interfaith Pantry. The auditorium became rehearsal and storage space for the Community Theatre. The museum was given three former classrooms on the second floor and one on the first, handicapped accessible, which was destined to become the museum's exhibit room.

The curator drew tentative plans for those displays and the room became filled with donated display cases, tables and shelving and filing cabinets, all of them potentially useful but thrown together in a daunting hodge-podge. Then, out of the blue, we were notified that the Bureau of Mines, the only paying tenant, needed the space - immediately!

Some members of the board considered the notice a death-knell. Much of the furniture was too heavy to move; it wouldn't fit into the rooms on the second floor; the artifacts had been accumulated without rhyme or reason. But wiser heads prevailed.

Jack Griffiths showed us how old candy cases from Murphy's could be assembled for displays; George Griffith reserved piled-up marble slabs, to make replicas of the fireplaces in the Price House on Main Street; the city Street Department provided muscles to put Beall High School graduation pictures on the walls of the newly-designated school room. In other words, what at first appeared to be a disaster turned out to be a blessing: We became organized!

A few years later we faced another crisis when a small electrical fire erupted in the Bureau of Mines area. The old metal ceilings prevented the fire spreading upstairs, but there was smoke and water damage throughout the building. As the damage was being repaired, our furniture and artifacts were piled up, helter-skelter; it took the better part of a year to unscramble them.

Once again confusion forced us to become better organized. The story was repeated when the bureau moved out, the Community Theatre disbanded and the city gave us title to the whole building. We acquired needed space - but we were suddenly responsible for heat and light, lawn care and roof repairs.

The roof is one of our current problems. Because of the height of the structure and the depth of the valleys in the roof, local roofers have been unable to stop the leaks.

Historic preservation funds might be available - but only if we replace the shingle roof with slate. Who can fix our roof - and how can we pay for the fixing? Money has become a primary concern.

Our other current question revolves around manpower. The museum should be open year-round, at least five half-days every week. So far, we have had only volunteer help, but volunteers have other responsibilities, and can't commit themselves to regular hours, on regular days, month after month as paid employees are required to do.

The board is, however, now making long-term plans. The Frostburg Museum, which survived eviction, and fire, is not going to be defeated by a shortage of money or manpower. They are simply new challenges.

Does Frostburg have a museum? - Yes: But, unlike the larger, better-known institutions, ours is community-owned, community operated and supported. We are all involved!

Betty VanNewkirk is the historian for the Frostburg Museum.