GALION — A big part of Galion’s past will soon be on display for the community to see for the very first time.
The Galion Historical Society is making plans to unveil a collection of artifacts from old businesses, industries, and schools. The large pieces, many of which have been in storage for years, have been moved to the society’s new museum at 331 E. Railroad Street.
“It’s very exciting, absolutely,” said Tanesha Pickering, director of the Galion Historical Society. “It’s looking good so far and the timing was perfect. Most of it has never been seen by the public before.”
That’s going to change.
The Historical Society, which has operated a museum in the carriage house of Brownella Cottage for decades, is calling its newest acquisition the Hayden-Helfrich Annex in honor of the women whose estates helped fund the purchase — Joice Hayden-Cating and Marta Helfrich-Miller.
The concrete building was purchased in October 2019, Pickering said, after the go-ahead from the society’s board of directors. Volunteers quickly swooped in to clean, paint and install new overhead LED lighting and wall fixtures as well as glass display for the exhibits.
In November, the push was on to move most of the collection, which had been stored in a unit at Innovative Recycling in town, into the new structure, museum curator Marcia Yunker said. Two other massive pieces — a horse-drawn fire engine and buggy — were transported from a garage at Brownella Cottage.
“We feel fortunate that people over the years have trusted us to save, so to speak, their equipment,” said Yunker, a longtime Historical Society member. “We’re so glad we decided not to just use the new building as storage. We wanted the community to see what we have.”
And what they have is big: The 1905 volunteer fire engine, a canon from the Civil War, a hearse from the L.J. Snyder Funeral Home and — the largest relic of them all — a 10-ton steam roller manufactured in 1922 by the former Galion Iron Works and Manufacturing Co., which barely cleared the annex’s garage door, Yunker said.
The familiar red Fred Barr Reality Co. wagon is also on display, along with a buggy made in the late 1800s by the Adam Howard Buggy Works. Wall signs and photographs are reminiscent of other Galion businesses, including Neff Bros. Market on Buehler Street, the supermarket founded in 1955 by brothers Bill and Bob Neff.
One corner of the museum annex pays tribute to a bygone era in Galion’s educational system — black and white photographs and signs from old school buildings, a desk used at the old North School and the 1926 organ from the high school auditorium, buildings eventually torn down after a new school campus was built.
Yunker said the museum’s newest acquisitions are two hand-carved hearses on loan from the Kunkel family, a name synonymous with custom-built carriages. Sisters Kay Kunkel Stowe and Linda Kunkel Keller provided the buggies made by the Kunkel Carriage Works, established back in 1875.
According to Yunker, it took countless volunteer hours from society members to ready the building, which also has a small apartment, offices, and restrooms. A grand opening originally planned for April has been delayed, she said, due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For now, the plan is to add some finishing touches, including directional signs and the set-up of interactive displays for visitors. In September, a decision will be made on a possible opening date for the Hayden-Helfrich Annex as well as established museum hours.