MARYSVILLE – The new Marysville Museum has quite a history of its own.
The huge museum on Armar Road will open to the public June 3 at 10 a.m. The Open House will last until 4 p.m. and feature speakers and refreshments. Admission will be free.
The start of the museum dates back to 1974, when the Marysville Historical Society was formed. Members had the foresight to collect and store as much as they could, but were unable to find a location for a museum.
“There were a number of false starts, but nothing ever panned out,” historical society president Ken Cage said this week. “They stumbled along and kept collecting and kept storing.”
Cage said the society collected items from all over.
“You wouldn’t believe how much you can find under beds and in attics,” Cage said.
When Cage entered onto the scene in 2002, he was told the historical society needs to “get off their duffs and get a museum.”
The dream now is a reality, thanks to the dedication of Cage, 85.
“Looking back I don’t know how I did it,” he said.
He got a lot of help.
“The best comparison is to an old barn raising,” he said, meaning everybody chipped in.
The Marysville Noon Rotary Club chipped in the most – about $260,000. But Cage said “an awful lot of companies” pitched in, too, by donating labor and materials. He mentioned E&E Lumber, Joby Construction, Artistic Drywall, Bundy Carpets, and Town &Country Homes. Cage estimated when the building is done it will be worth $2 million, but in actual funds about $800,000 was spent.
When visitors first arrive they will notice a totem pole outside, and in enclosed window displays two old Model T cars, a pedal car from the early days of the Marysville Strawberry Festival and an old horse-drawn buggy. “We just got it,” Cage said of that last historical piece.
When you go inside you will see a bank of old phones and some huge historic photos. As you turn to the left you’ll see a display of dolls that look like famous people. As you take a right you’ll enter The Great Hall, the highlight of the museum. The hall features different facades, including a church, city hall, a bank, a storefront and an auto store. Inside the exhibits will change so they may not match the shell.
The last area finished is a pharmacy, which is made up like an old soda fountain shop with stools to sit on. Other exhibits include phone operator, dentist, beauty salon and a musical instrument room. The Great Hall can be rented out for up to 150 people for many types of events: weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, reunions, Cage said. There is room for tables and chairs, theater seating or it can be open, like it will be for the Open House. Display cases are on wheels so they can be moved around easily. That is so they can be changed two to three times a year.
“If it gets stale, people quit coming,” Cage said of a museum.
Off the hall to the north is another area with all types of historical items, including clothes, photographs, items from a logging camp, more phones, and display cases with just about everything in them.
Cage said it’s exciting that so much history that has been stored for years and years finally will see “the light of day.”
While it took 43 years to get a museum, Cage predicts the community will appreciate it for years to come.
