Longswamp Township Historical Society celebrated the groundbreaking of its museum and library at its future site, Longswamp Township Park in Mertztown on Sunday, Oct. 8.
“Like any other museum, the Longswamp Township Historical Society’s museum and historical library will provide and strengthen a sense of community and place by celebrating a collective heritage and offering a great way to get to know the history of the Longswamp area,” society President Marie Maly said in a statement.
“We also hope it will become the sort of popular social gathering place as was the Mertztown train station in its operational heyday,” she added.
Designed to resemble the station, the museum and library will be constructed in the Longswamp Township Park on land leased to the Historical Society by the Longswamp Township Board of Supervisors.
The museum also is a means to live the organization’s purpose: “To ensure that present and future generations will be able to learn and study the historical heritage of the township and the Longswamp area.”
Shirk Pole Buildings LLC of East Earl will prepare a pad on which it will install the metal shell that will resemble the shape and color of the exterior of the Mertztown train station. From there, volunteers and contractors will advance the project as funds become available.
“The timeline to completion of the museum and historical library building is uncertain due to insufficient funding, but we expect to have the exterior shell of the building erected in the early part of 2024,” Maly said.
Owning and operating a museum and historical library has been a strategic priority for the society since 2010, when the nonprofit drafted bylaws following the township supervisors’ October 2009 authorization of the organization as a committee of the township.
The Longswamp Township Historical Society began active service in May 2011, with the reenactment of the 1761 signing of the petition to request township status for Longswamp.
“Since that time, the organization has sponsored more than 100 lectures and special events. In addition to the township of Longswamp, the organization captures the history of adjacent communities in both Berks and Lehigh counties,” Maly said.
Celebrating Milestones
The Oct. 8 event celebrated the Historical Society’s milestones and accomplishments, the most recent of which is the acquisition of a 1941 Reading Company cupola caboose.
“To embrace our future as we move into a new era of community service with the addition of the caboose and future museum and historical library,” Maly said about the event’s purpose.
About 150 community members came out for the free community event that featured the museum groundbreaking and caboose ribbon cutting. A donor plaque unveiling dedicated the 1941 Reading Company cupola caboose to its former owner and township resident Terry Schultz, who died in December. The caboose was open to the public for free tours. A free concert by The Swing Time Dolls concluded the event.
“The Reading Company caboose will serve as an ancillary display and learning space to the museum,” Maly said.
The museum and library building will be located nearby.
The Historical Society thanked donors and community members for their financial support. A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit all-volunteer organization, it receives 100% of its support from contributions, foundation grant awards and local fundraising efforts.
Maly said society members and other volunteers were recognized for “voting with their feet by becoming involved in ways small and large, the most important of which is to serve as brand ambassadors and spread news of the mission of the LTHS.”
Acquisitions
The Historical Society acquired the Mertztown train station from Atlas Minerals & Chemicals, Inc. in April 2019.
“While a few recoverable materials from the dilapidated station building can be salvaged, the project to build a museum and historical library will largely focus on creating a facsimile of the original building,” explained Maly.
The museum building will incorporate a metal board and batten siding that will resemble the shape and color of the exterior of the station; the interior will be framed to replicate the rooms that comprise the station’s interior, using original elements from the station when possible, Maly said.
“The railroad has been an integral part of society in Longswamp Township since the building of a 36-mile railroad by the East Pennsylvania East Penn Railroad in 1868-69, which cut through the township,” said Maly.
Of the 13 stops along the route, four were in Longswamp: Mertztown, Shamrock, Hancock and Topton. The Reading Company was the third railroad to own and operate this railroad, Maly noted.
The Reading Company caboose was purchased using donor funds and a small amount of fundraising proceeds from a May 2023 event and relocated to the Longswamp Township Park in late June 2023. Historical society members, led by Kathy Jo and John Moll and Eloise (Ellie) Long, raised nearly all of the money to cover the purchase, relocation and installation cost for the caboose in about two months’ time.
For more information about the Longwamp Township Historical Society, visit https://www.longswamphistory.org/.
Source: Berkshire mont