County of site: Lincoln County
Location of site: N. 2nd St. & DuBois St., Elsberry
The historical society was formed in 2003, and the Elsberry Historic Preservation Society is also active, and I cannot find out if they are two different outfits, or the same people operating under the tow names.
"In 2005 the Elsberry Historical Society relocated a one of Elsberry's oldest homes next to the Old Calaboose and is in the process of restoring it with the purpose of providing a town museum and Society headquarters. In 2007 the city funded a restoration project to repair the crumbling exterior of the Old Calaboose." ~ The Great River Road, 2011
"“Striving to preserve our history, traditions; create opportunities and enhance our community.” These are the words used by the Elsberry Historical Society (EHS) to explain why they are so passionate about restoring things of old.
"Founded in 2001 by a small group of Elsberry residents, the EHS has dedicated themselves to preserving the history, the homes, the items, even the stories of what Elsberry was built from.
“We are a group of community minded people with a love for saving our heritage,” said EHS member Harriet Mesker. “ The ones who grew up in this community and know what it once stood for are slowly dying and we need to preserve what we can now.”
"Although their current project is the restoration of the Claude Robinson House, located at 106 North Second Street, they have been instrumental in preserving such things as the Marquee at the Senate Theater, placing historical markers in front of homes built from Elsberry’s younger years and much more. But with so much history and so many stories they were in need of a place that could hold them all, hence the restoration of the Robinson Home and future site of the Elsberry Museum.
“The house was originally located on Lincoln Street but we had it moved to its current location in 2005,” said EHS Secretary and Treasurer Barbara Cheatham. “Since that time we have completely redone the house by painting it, installing a new roof, installation, wallboards, refinished the floor in most of the rooms and just done what we can piece by piece based on the funds we have.”
"One of the many items to be featured in the new Elsberry Historical Museum are items from the old train station, which was one of the first in Missouri. The building of the station was one of the largest reasons for Elsberry’s early success.
Since the EHS is a non-for-profit organization and has been since May of 2003, they are limited on funds. In fact most of their annual funding comes from their annual dinner fundraiser, which is typically held in June.
"One of the reasons they decided to use the Second Street location for the museum was because of the Calaboose Rock Jail located on the same property." ~ The Elsberry Democrat