Progress neighbors
“preserve
If you don’t history
you lose it.”
Barb Wildgrube and Rodney Hatle look at old copies of the New Richland Star for Dairy Days that are part of the New Richland Area Historical Society’s collection. The Historical Society, which has been storing parts of its collection in the former Hotel Washburn will soon launch a campaign to raise money to renovate the building for permanent use. Sarah Stultz/albert lea tribune
Desk launched historical society; now that group seeks a permanent museum new richland reSidentS ready to take next Step By Sarah Stultz
sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com
NEW RICHLAND — It started with a desk at an auction in 1998. New Richland resident Barb Wildgrube and a friend attended the auction — after the closing of Bruzek Hardware — and saw a desk for sale from the former New Richland railroad depot. Though they would have liked to purchase the desk, it sold to a man from Hope, Wildgrube said. “We just thought it was terrible that our original depot desk was going to be leaving town,” she said. Three years later, in 2001, that same man held an auction, and the desk was for sale once again. With the help of the State Bank of New Richland, she and others purchased the desk and brought it back to town. Wildgrube and a group of others later in August that same year formed the nonprofit New Richland Area Historical Society. Now, 13 years later, after years of collecting other historical items, the society is preparing to launch a major fundraising campaign to renovate a longtime New Richland building into a permanent museum. “If you don’t preserve history, you lose it,” said Pam Goehring, another member of the Historical Society. The building is the former Hotel Washburn at the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Division Street. It originated around the time of New Richland’s creation, in 1877 or 1878, and over the years has been most widely known as the Hotel Washburn and the New Richland Hotel. At one point it also had apartments. Wildgrube said the society has stored items in its collection in the building for many years, but it was just that — storage. Other items have been housed in the basements of the society members, and there has not been a permanent museum for items to be shown and open to the public. She said the previous building owner, who turned the property back to the State Bank
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The New Richland Area Historical Society has stacks of old documents, books and other paperwork.
DOOR DOOR by
Jordahl Meats is at 25585 Minnesota Highway 13 in Manchester. It is one of a handful of businesses in the city. The company provides meat processing and meat retail.
Glass slides in the New Richland Area Historical Society’s collection.
This desk was the impetus behind the formation of the New Richland Area Historical Society in 2001. It was previously at the railroad depot in New Richland. of New Richland, had started making some renovations, but major work still needs to be done. The building is structurally sound, but there is no heat, a bathroom needs to be put in and walls need to be resurfaced, to name a few. Goehring said she and the others will research any grants that may be available. “Any and all contributions are welcome — money, labor, materials,” said member Dawn Halgren. The group did not have an estimate for how much the renovations would cost. The building was donated through a vote by the board of directors at the State Bank of New Richland. The Area Food Shelf of New Richland will be in the back of the L-shaped building, and the Historical Society will be in the front. The society’s members said they know they have a large undertaking but are hopeful the community will be supportive. In the meantime, they are constantly looking for new things to add to their collection, whether it be from people they know, Facebook or online auctions. Over the years, they have collected everything from yearbooks, to postcards, to military uniforms to old newspapers. Goehring said they received two collections totaling 182 postcards, and they have 186 glass
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Books the society has put together about different aspects of history in New Richland.
See MUSEUM, Page 2
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Postcards in the collection of the New Richland Area Historical Society.
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