Little Museum That Could: Historical Society Honors Manhattan's Roots

MANHATTAN, IL — In its nearly 40 years of existence, an effort to preserve a town's history and honor its roots has grown from space in one building to multiple rooms in two, with an ever-expanding display of Manhattan memorabilia cultivated with love and care.

It's the hearts behind the Manhattan Township Historical Society and Museum that have kept it ticking nearly four decades, with volunteers dedicated to sifting through donations—organizing, preserving and celebrating each item for its antiquity, uniqueness and rich past.

Today, housed at 255 S State St., the society gives a peek at the past, with exhibits across six rooms—and a caboose—for the public to enjoy. Mary Kay Cooper, secretary of the society and museum coordinator, is proud of how far the museum and society have come. Cooper, who has lived in Manhattan for 50 years, has been volunteering with the society since 1998.

"I like the community feeling," Cooper said, of what she enjoys about working with the society. "I like that we have a good group of volunteers that really work hard, and I like seeing people come in and enjoying the space."

The society's beginnings can be traced back to 1986, for the village's Centennial celebration. A committee was formed to piece together the Village’s past and to publish its findings in Memories with Progress, the first book devoted to Manhattan’s history. In January 1987, the committee became the state-recognized Manhattan Township Historical Society.

Fueled by volunteerism even then, the group sold baked goods and pickles on a stick, and put on talent shows and other fundraisers to support its mission of educating the citizens of Manhattan about their history and encouraging its preservation, the society's history details. They had no physical space to store any items they acquired, so they relied on storage donated from the Village Hall, the local library and various citizens.

Volunteer Janet Werner's heart for the concept helped it grow, with the acquisition of a defunct caboose in 1988. Werner then compiled and cataloged the society’s photo collection, which was ultimately turned into a hard-bound book in 2008.

As the collections grew, the society and museum were still in need of a home. It had outgrown its storage spaces, and spilled over into personal garages. When Wilson Creek School was built, the group was given access to an empty classroom to store its collection, from 2010–2014, until the school needed the classroom and the items were moved into a storage room there.

Still, the temporary space had given volunteers the ability to sort, organize and inventory paper information and digitize a list of artifacts, according to book Manhattan Memories. They worked from home to lay out Manhattan's timeline, including the creation of the Manhattan Park District, and School District 114. They even nudged Michael J. McHugh, an original founder of the town's beloved Irish Fest, to write A Movable Fest, 20 Years of Manhattan Irish Fest, detailing the Fest’s 1994 planning and the first celebration in 1995.

The society moved to its current home in 2014, when the Village began leasing the space next to its Village Hall to the society for a museum.

It's remarkable to see how far it's come, Cooper said.

"It would not have gotten started without Janet Werner being a very determined woman who not only got the caboose, but organized it, and kept it going," Cooper said. "It was never a tremendously large group."

Today, the museum boasts a collection deep in Manhattan history. Take a trip to the telephone room, with model phones dating back decades—"kids don’t know how to use even a rotary phone," Cooper joked—wedding dresses and regalia, military uniforms and antiquities.

Cooper has two favorites in one room, noting a photo of a "little building in front of a tavern on State Street." When she asked senior citizens to tell her about that photo, one easily remembered that it was taken on Nov. 1, and that the building was an outhouse plopped in front of the pub as a Halloween prank.

Then there's the photo of the day air mail came to town, and the local letter carrier rode his horse to meet the plane.

"Here’s this 10-year-old, with the mail, on a horse, going to the plane, which then took off and went to Joliet," Cooper described.

A 501c3, the society relies on community support to continue operating. Past and present volunteers have kept the history of Manhattan alive and have been a source of information. Florence Lynk, Vera Borden and Janet Werner have been prominent sources of local history. Families with ties to Manhattan have contributed significantly to the museum, like the Knapp family, whose patriarch served in World War II, and who donated his uniform to the museum.

The museum's largest room hosts a display of items 30,000 BC to 1886, including a portion dedicated to the town's German ancestry, which were second only to its Irish roots, Cooper said.

The township has assisted with enhancements to the caboose, according to Manhattan Memories.

The Village assisted with decorating “Old Settler’s Park” for the holidays, as well as caboose upkeep. The Village also coordinated the moving of the Centennial Time Capsule in 2015 from library property to Village property on Wabash Street, when the library needed to expand its parking lot. Expanded space in the former police department, leased in 2015, has allowed for more artifacts and larger display areas.

Officials' support of the society is just another reason Cooper loves the town. Though she's "a newcomer by Manhattan standards," she echoes the sentiments teens used to write in applications for Chamber of Commerce scholarships, speaking on what they loved about the town.

"They’d say it was safe, and … Kirby’s Bakery," Cooper said, laughing.

The society and museum are maintained by a team of 13 volunteers and a board, including Cooper, president Kadri Luering, vice president Susan Carlton, treasures Eileen Partak, trustees Bob Davis, Joann Jeffers and Andy Partak, and volunteers Patsy Leadingham, Marge Bettridge and Howie Clumpner. They participate in local events, including helping Boy and Girl Scouts attain their badges and grade school children learn about community history.

Their reach continues to grow, Cooper said.

"Our spread is getting wider, because the families have moved farther away, but are still interested," she said. "We just had somebody sign up their friends who live in Oregon … two far away places, they wanted to stay in touch with the society, so hopefully as they start sorting stuff out, they still send us stuff."

Cooper relishes the chance to highlight Manhattan's history for anyone who wants to visit, and she knows it's an important piece of the town's future, too.

"This is the only place that I know of in the whole world that will keep Manhattan’s history," Cooper said. "If we want the community to know what it was like to live here, and the values the community holds, you’re only going to find it here."

The Manhattan Township Historical Society and Museum is located at 255 S. State St.

Hours are Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sundays, noon to 3 p.m., Wednesdays 6 to 8:30 p.m., unless otherwise specified. Call ahead to be sure! Admission is free.

Don't miss a Living History exhibit, with Civil War reenactment, set for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 9 in front of the museum.