Twinsburg Historical Society and Museum
A note from the President:
Greetings Twinsburg Historical Society Members.
The year is rapidly coming to an end and the Society has had many accomplishments including fund raisers, partnerships, and record membership. Here are just a few of the many accomplishments we had throughout the year:
The Old School Gala brought some great revenue for us in the sale of shirts and memorabilia from the old school. We had three days of non-stop visitors reminiscing with us on all of the old school artifacts we were able to salvage before the old school’s demise.
Some great partnerships have been brought about with great interaction for all concerned. Our main one is with the local Twinsburg School District. We have welcomed the football team, the honor society, the art department as well as many other students who have been involved with projects at the society. The drama club has been influential in our production of Tales of Locust Grove.
We also developed a great partnership with the Twinsburg Library as well. What started out as a simple genealogy project blossomed into a complete archiving solution of all pictures, documents, and other pertinent information which will be displayed as the History of Twinsburg on a searchable website.
Leslie Heaphy PHD., a Kent State University History Professor, will be working with us to include The History of Twinsburg in two of the courses she teaches starting in the spring semester. The student’s projects will relate to the history of Twinsburg and will help the museum with many of the projects we are working on. Some of the projects include: developing a junior docent program, developing a self-guiding tour of the museum with an app, determining once and for all if in fact Twinsburg played a role in the underground railroad, and many other projects.
Professor Susan Gray PHD, of Arizona State University had a project with her students that helped in transcribing all of the writings of Rev. Samuel Bissell that were archived at The Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland. They will be sharing the writings with us. We also contributed additional writings that we have in our possession that she could not locate. The end result will also be a searchable website of his writings.
Also, all three groups above met together to see how we can assist and interact with all three groups to develop these museum programs to their fullest.
We are also in the talking stage with Twinsburg Township to partner on some of their programs and assist where possible. The first project could be to restore the Civil War Monument to its original glory.
Did you know about the properties we own and maintain?
The Grange Museum, owned and maintained.
The Freeman Barn, owned and maintained.
The Riley House (Owned by the city). We have a ten-year lease with the city. We maintain it both inside and outside. This coming Spring, we will be painting the entire outside of the house with the assistance of The Rotary Club. The City does take care of the lawn since the house resides in the 900 acre park.
Locust Grove Cemetery (Owned by the City) We maintain the cemetery with the cleaning, restoration, and maintenance of the headstones, etc. All of the Tales of Locust Grove monies go to the upkeep. Other museums have asked us for some help and guidance to maintain their cemeteries. We also erected the sign and the pillars at the entrance to Locust Grove Cemetery as well as moving the crypt when the shopping center was being built near it. Much of this was completed in previous years.
We are members of numerous museum societies and groups, both locally and nationally and participate in many of the meetings and seminars. We harvest ideas and events from these meetings.
In conclusion, we know that 2019 will be a much better year for us and that you will see new displays, new artifacts, and perhaps, a new property. All of our partnerships will assist us in preserving the history of Twinsburg, Twinsburg Township, and Reminderville. As always, we thank you for your generous support and participation in all of our endeavors, as well as your contributions to our displays. What is nice about our museum, is that it is about our geographical area exclusively!
I would like to personally thank our trustees, businesses, and all members who have contributed this past year. Without you, it would not have been possible.
Respectfully,
Andrew Tomko
President
Twinsburg Historical Society
Walking Tour of Historical Buildings
Is it a nice day? Got an hour or two with nothing to do? Here is a PDF document that has the directions for a walking tour of some of Twinsburg's Historical buildings and a little background on each of them. Go explore and learn things.
Big Thanks go to DroneOhio.com for the pictures.