Author: Sam

Due to the death of one of our own, Mary Jean DeMattei, the museum will be closed on Thursday, July 21, 2016. We will reopen on Friday, July 22nd.

To view Mary Jean’s obituary, click here.

I never thought I would see the day when our little ol’ musuem would actually get fiber internet. Futiva is a new company in town offering fiber internet connection and VOIP phone services. They recently made us an offer that we couldn’t refuse. We moved from 4 MB DSL internet and basic phone service with no long distance to 100 MB internet and two state of the art phones with unlimited long distance and all of the perks of a cell phone for only $10 a month more than we were paying already. Thanks Futiva for helping us out.

For those of you who visit the museum and use our WiFi to pursue ancestry data, you will find the connection much snappier.

We started converting our old side porch to a utility room and first floor bathroom about a month and a half ago. To date the sewer line has been tapped and ready to connect. A floor and walls have gone up and electrical wiring was recently installed. Next, comes the plumbing and insulation and then the drywall. We hope to have the project finished by the next membership meeting in late July.

With over 100 years of accumulated history and plenty of historical artifacts that may or may not contain their own energy, the county museum has had its share of stories attached to it over the years. As such, it has become a magnet for paranormal investigation.

The group, Midnight Paranormal, from Benton was the last group to spend the night at the museum on Saturday, May 14^th, 2016. The group consisting of Stephen Parola, Pamela Parola and Stephanie McGrew spent four hours in the museum using cameras, EMF detectors and phone apps to try and wrangle supernatural energies.

An EMF detector went off for over an hour in the foyer and when queried as to who it was, the answer came back as “Tucker Hell”. The spirit Tucker later mentioned “prison” and “bars”. Apparently, Tucker may have been a smoker because the mentioned, “smoke, need”. Two other specific names that were mentioned during their investigation were Carter and a reference to “Kelly buried” while investigating the coal mine exhibit.

An invisible tour guide appeared to have taken over while on the third floor of the museum which mentioned “poison” while standing next to a pair of WWI gas masks. They were later directed to the storage room by the guide. A number of orbs were captured by the group in various locations in the building and it became apparent that not only the museum itself might contain something other worldly but that also the many artifacts donated over the years are thought to drag some residual spiritual energy with them as well.

The Williamson County Historical Society Museum was visited on Tuesday, May 3^rd through Friday May 6^th, 2016 by the fifth grade students of the Washington Grade School. Normally, the museum is toured by the local fifth grade with all 80 or so students at once, but this year the students visited the museum on four separate days with about 20 students each day.

On Thursday, the students were additionally treated to a talk on the Public Square given by Jon Musgrave about the square’s history. The students appeared exceptionally prepared for the tours this year and many came preloaded with questions that they were prepared to ask.

Students from the Christian Community Academy from Johnston City toured the museum for the first time on Thursday, April 15th, 2016. The students were introduced, many for the first time, to many aspects of pioneer life and some of the hardships that their ancestors likely faced on a daily basis.

As expected, many things in the museum stumped the students, particularly on the use of older telephones, typewriters and early camera types much of which is foreign to todays youth.