Flooding sends historical society scrambling to rescue collection
When heavy rains and melting snow caused extensive flooding in the area Feb. 28, families across the county scrambled to salvage treasured family heirlooms stored in flooded basements.
Imagine how challenging that work would be if the treasures being rescued documented the history of an entire county.
That’s what the Wayne County Historical Society faced when water began to rise through the sump wells housing sump pumps in the lower level of the main museum building and the firehouse on the society’s campus.
According to Jim Norton, historical society president, about 6 a.m. the society’s caretaker discovered a few inches of water throughout the basement of the Kister Building, which houses the society’s collection of farm equipment, Native American arrow points, fossils, mounted birds and other pieces documenting businesses in the county.
While it initially appeared that the flooding was contained to the Kister Building, when the members of the textile committee arrived shortly thereafter for their weekly meeting, they quickly discovered that the flooding was far more extensive than originally thought.
Worse yet, the flood waters were continuing to rise.
At their peak, more than a foot of water covered the floor of the entire lower level of the Kister Building and close to two feet of water flooded the basement of the firehouse, which is being used to store items currently not on display to the public, including the contents of a Civil War era log cabin that was dismantled several years ago in order to undergo restoration, and several large pieces of furniture.
One of the hardest hit areas was the vault used to store the society’s extensive collection of textiles, clothing and coverlets.
Allyson Leisy, a textile committee member, said that in order to save the priceless collection, volunteers formed a human chain to move the boxes containing the collection to higher ground as the water level continued to rise in the textile vault.
When society volunteers were unable to rent or purchase pumps powerful enough to remove the volume of water they were facing, Bogner Construction and Campbell Construction came to the society’s aid by sending three pumps and the personnel necessary to get them running.
By midday the water levels were slowly beginning to fall in both buildings.
Norton said it won’t be possible to come up with an estimate on the amount of damage done to the collection for some time, in part because additional damage in the form of mildew may occur as waterlogged items begin to dry.
While there will likely be permanent damage to some items in the society’s collection, it could have been far worse.
David Broehl, vice president, said over the past decade the society has constructed a series of temperature and humidity controlled vaults to house some of the society’s most fragile items, including papers, textiles and military items, which were spared by the flooding.
The society also took great care to place items that aren’t damaged by water, such as stone and metal items, in lower drawers of storage cabinets and items that are susceptible to water damage in higher drawers.
The society is grateful for the outpouring of support they have received from the community as they face the cleanup efforts that lay ahead.
“It was great to see the community support when we really needed it,” said Norton of the efforts of the volunteers and businesses who came to the society’s aid.
Anyone who would like to make a financial contribution to the cleanup efforts is encouraged to contact the Wayne County Historical Society at 330-264-8856 or visit their website at http://www.waynehistoricalohio.org.
Imagine how challenging that work would be if the treasures being rescued documented the history of an entire county.
That’s what the Wayne County Historical Society faced when water began to rise through the sump wells housing sump pumps in the lower level of the main museum building and the firehouse on the society’s campus.
According to Jim Norton, historical society president, about 6 a.m. the society’s caretaker discovered a few inches of water throughout the basement of the Kister Building, which houses the society’s collection of farm equipment, Native American arrow points, fossils, mounted birds and other pieces documenting businesses in the county.
While it initially appeared that the flooding was contained to the Kister Building, when the members of the textile committee arrived shortly thereafter for their weekly meeting, they quickly discovered that the flooding was far more extensive than originally thought.
Worse yet, the flood waters were continuing to rise.
At their peak, more than a foot of water covered the floor of the entire lower level of the Kister Building and close to two feet of water flooded the basement of the firehouse, which is being used to store items currently not on display to the public, including the contents of a Civil War era log cabin that was dismantled several years ago in order to undergo restoration, and several large pieces of furniture.
One of the hardest hit areas was the vault used to store the society’s extensive collection of textiles, clothing and coverlets.
Allyson Leisy, a textile committee member, said that in order to save the priceless collection, volunteers formed a human chain to move the boxes containing the collection to higher ground as the water level continued to rise in the textile vault.
When society volunteers were unable to rent or purchase pumps powerful enough to remove the volume of water they were facing, Bogner Construction and Campbell Construction came to the society’s aid by sending three pumps and the personnel necessary to get them running.
By midday the water levels were slowly beginning to fall in both buildings.
Norton said it won’t be possible to come up with an estimate on the amount of damage done to the collection for some time, in part because additional damage in the form of mildew may occur as waterlogged items begin to dry.
While there will likely be permanent damage to some items in the society’s collection, it could have been far worse.
David Broehl, vice president, said over the past decade the society has constructed a series of temperature and humidity controlled vaults to house some of the society’s most fragile items, including papers, textiles and military items, which were spared by the flooding.
The society also took great care to place items that aren’t damaged by water, such as stone and metal items, in lower drawers of storage cabinets and items that are susceptible to water damage in higher drawers.
The society is grateful for the outpouring of support they have received from the community as they face the cleanup efforts that lay ahead.
“It was great to see the community support when we really needed it,” said Norton of the efforts of the volunteers and businesses who came to the society’s aid.
Anyone who would like to make a financial contribution to the cleanup efforts is encouraged to contact the Wayne County Historical Society at 330-264-8856 or visit their website at http://www.waynehistoricalohio.org.
Published: March 9, 2011
