Photographs taken within the museums 12-county area of early settlers, places, and events are assigned accession number and are stored. They have also been scanned onto CDs from which prints can be made. The photographic images can be viewed, along with textual information on the PastPerfect computer screen.
Photographic collections of special note are the Estes and Claxton Collections, Harry Miller albums, the Saffell Collection, and Fred Kealer Lock and Dam 1902 1907 Construction Dozer Collection.
Objects representative of the region are stored, but photographs of them can be viewed on PastPerfects computer screen. These include items in many nomenclature categories. Our largest collections are textiles, including quilts and clothing and decorative handwork. Small mechanical tools, toys and recreational objects, communication artifacts, and household items make up a large percentage of the collections.
Archives Catalog contains documents which have been carefully cleaned and stored, such as letters, certificates, contracts, personal journals, advertising brochures, early newspapers, selected magazines. Photographs of these items cannot be seen on computer screen, but the item can be retrieved for the visiting researcher to read.
Of particular note is a growing collection of Land Certificates signed by U.S. presidents through the early years of our history, and letters written in the 1840s through 1860s.
Library Catalog lists all books, (including a shelf of rare books) maps, and audio and video tapes that are available on shelf in the library research room.