The Reily Township Historical Society isn't just preserving artifacts related to local history. The organization is also providing a place for neighbors to connect with one another.
The car, if you recognize it as that, still starts.
It took BJ Miller years to get the 1911 Sears Motor Buggy from Reily Township in working condition. He spends his days fixing up antique cars just like it at the Salty Dog Museum, which his dad and a family friend started together more than a decade ago.
Before it came to Miller, the car spent years covered up in a building in Reily Township, though Miller thinks its original owner may have been a Morgan Township resident. Now, he has two dozen local history buffs from Reily anxious to see the car run, so he starts cranking. After a few cranks, it starts, and the room fills the sound of the motor and the smell of gasoline.
It’s moments like that — seeing history come to life with others in the community — that the Reily Township Historical Society exists for.
The Salty Dog excursion on Nov. 12 was the society’s first field trip, but they’ve been holding monthly meetings for years. The meetings attract anywhere from 30 to 60 attendees each month.
Roger Koch, treasurer for the Historical Society, was involved when the society formed in 2006 after receiving a $1,500 grant from the W.E. Smith Family Charitable Trust. The township celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2007, and the Founders Day event was the Historical Society’s first big celebration.
A few years after the Historical Society formed, the Reily Township Trustees acquired the house at 6207 Main Street. After the township refurbished it, they let the Historical Society set up in it, running it as the Hammond House Museum.
For many members of the Historical Society and visitors to the museum, Koch said it offers a chance to reminisce about a past that the older residents in town remember.
“We had a bank, we had two grocery stores, we had a funeral home, we had a saddle shop,” Koch said. “So a lot of the people who are my age or older all remember all that stuff, and that’s kind of the glue [for the community], too.”
The museum is open to visitors by appointment and from 1-3 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month. The house is filled with maps and artifacts dating back decades, all telling the story of the township.
(Top left) One of the biggest conversation-starters in the Hammond House Museum is a child's coffin. (Top right) Archivist Deborah Gross has created a research room for visitors to look through property and family records. (Bottom left and right) The museum features many items from when Reily Township had its own school district. Photos by Sean Scott
Danielle Foulk, president of the Historical Society, said the guests each month range from neighbors who live on Main Street and want to know more about their homes to visitors from out of state looking to learn more about their own connections to the area.
“Everyone has a different reason to be here, or they’re here just to visit because they’ve never been before,” Foulk said. “But usually, there’s a reason why they’re here and some connection to Reily.”
For Foulk, becoming a member of the Historical Society was about more than just learning the history of her own house and the township. It was about getting to know the residents in town after she moved in.
“I was looking for a place to connect as someone who was new in town,” Foulk said. “So from going to township trustee meetings or going to the Historical Society to try to connect with the community … that got me really excited to learn more about the local history, so that’s why I started attending meetings.”
Deborah Gross, an archivist for the society, estimated that they have thousands of unique items. She recently set up a genealogy station in the back room, too, for people looking to learn more about their family history in the township.
Like Foulk, Gross sees the Historical Society as more than just a way for residents to connect with the township’s past. Reily Township had its own school district until it merged with the Talawanda School District in 1968. After the schools in Reily Township closed for good, Gross said residents lost the main way they connected with each other.
“When the school went out, it left a void,” Gross said. “I think the town really kind of got a little depressed, and this is us climbing back out of that void.”
The Hammond Museum will be open again from 1-3 p.m. Dec. 8. The Reily Township Historical Society’s next meeting at 7 p.m. Dec. 8 will include a Christmas tree lighting and a visit from Santa Claus. The society is also participating in Wreaths Across America and will have a ceremony at 12 p.m. Dec. 14 at the Reily Township Community Center.
The Reily Township Historical Society's trip to the Salty Dog Museum was the group's first field trip. Photos by Sean Scott
