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Step back into the past
By CHARLYN FINN
Stepping into the Calhoun County Museum at 301 S. Ann St. in Port Lavaca is like stepping back into time.
The old relics enclosed within the walls date back anywhere from several hundreds of years ago to about 100 years
To educate the visitors to the museum about the county relics is curator George Anne Cormier. She has been with the museum since 1996.
George Anne is well equipped to do the teaching since she is a 19-year employee of the San Antonio Association, the Witte Museum and San Antonio Museum of Arts.
“The purpose of the museum is to preserve the history of Calhoun County,” George Anne says as she begins a tour. She knows every item as if it came from her own home and soon the people she guides through the museum get swept up into the aura of the old relics.
The idea of having a county museum actually dates back to a Junior Service League of several decades ago. But it was the 1964 Calhoun County Commissioner Court that decided to have a county museum.
The museum began with a few items placed in the old County Jail located next door to the current museum site. The current building used to be the county library. A new library was built on the north side of town by the current IBC Bank. The old jailhouse made of materials that tend to crumble after a half century or so, was no longer safe. So the museum was moved into the library building. The old jail museum was demolished in 1991.
At first the museum was moved into the courthouse annex. When the library was moved to the new building, the museum moved in.
The Calhoun County Historical Commission was no doubt pleased about the move. The old library gives the museum more atmosphere. It has some problems, though.
“We don’t have enough room to display all of our items,” George Anne says.
She looks forward to the day when another plan is realized, one that involves building a library at the Lighthouse Beach next to the Bauer Community Center. George Anne indicates that plan is quite a few dollars away.
In the meantime the precious relics are safe in the snug old library building.
“This is the beacon from he Matagorda Lighthouse,” George Anne says, pointing to the piece de resistance (focal point of the museum).
The beacon dates back to 1870. The actual lighthouse still stands on Matagorda Island but the beacon, a beautiful piece, rests in the museum. George Anne admits its is quite an attraction for light house fanatics. The beacon is actually the fourth one to be used in the lighthouse, George Anne said.
George Anne then moves towards a beautiful old handmade bed. Above it hangs a picture of the man who made the bed, William Allen.
“The bed was made in Indianola,” George Anne explains. “Allen was listed in the 1870 census with his wife Catherine. He was listed in the Indianola census as a carpenter. The family with their bed left Indianola in 1873, a couple of years before the major 1875 hurricane hit.”
“This is a very important piece because we have the Provencal (data)” George Anne says.
The museum contains other pre-hurricane items. There is a large piano that survived both the 1875 and 1876 hurricanes.
There is a muzzle-loading shotgun at the museum brought there by Mary Wall. She brought it to the museum in an old trunk. She and some other older women put it together, according to George Anne.
George Anne knows that the piano was purchased in 1872 by Samuel Kinley for his daughter Freda, who taught piano lessons. It was purchased in Boston and shipped to Indianola. Fleeing from the 1970 hurricane, it was left behind wrapped in mattresses and quilts. “When the family returned after the hurricane, the only part of their home that was left was the living room floor with the piano standing on it,” George Anne says, giving a chuckle. “The piano was taken to Cuero, then San Antonio and was finally brought back to Calhoun County. It was donated to the museum by teacher Catherine Dechart Ryan and husband Patrick J. Ryan, a former postmaster.
There is another old bed at the museum from Indianola left at the museum as a bequest by Rubecca Rubburt.
Sitting on George Anne’s desk is what is believed to be fossilized Mammoth teeth and a fossilized stone crab.
The museum houses a collection of prehistoric arrows and dart points and stone tools. They come from a secret site. The Calhoun County Historical Commission does not was the site to be disturbed. This collection was donated by Charles Husak He has been collecting since 1935.
Husak gives talks to children about Native Americans.
There is an authentic Bison head in the museum. George Anne said a second Bison head will soon be donated to the museum by a Houston man “who fell in love with the museum and willed them to the museum.”
Another museum feature is a map of old Fort Esparanza that was on Matagorda Island during the War Between the States. Complementing the map is some old cannon balls and mini balls used during the war.
George Anne is very proud of a photographic collection. “We are always trying to find new ones of Calhoun County,” she said.
Most of the photograph collection was donated by former Tax Assessor Katie Guidry, who is now deceased.
An old jail cell from the jail, the spiral staircase that was in the jail and some old bricks are being kept in the museum.
The museum houses an old book collection that tells the history of the Rene Robert Cavelier Sieur de LaSalle expedition.
One of the books was written by Henri Detonty and another by Henri Joutel.
George Anne says “there are all kinds of papers and documents here. Sometimes you get originals and some times copies.”
Behind the glass enclosed cases are German porcelain china dating back to 1822 and many other small items representing a part of Calhoun County’s past.
The oldest encased items, however, actually were obtained through the excavation of LaSalle’s ship, La Belle.
“The whole center section of the museum is from the LaBelle,” George Anne said. “They are in our museum on a permanent loan. We worked for six years to get this exhibit. It will be expanded whenever we move to a new museum. Millions of objects were found on the ship. The LaSalle shipwreck is the oldest discovered French shipwreck in the United States. Many wood and cloth items on the ship were preserved because they were covered with silt. That kept the oxygen and bacteria away.”
George Anne said Calhoun County would have received many more items off the LaBelle if there had been an adequate place to display them. “We lost out on being a repository because we did not have room for storage,” she said. “If another shipwreck is found, I don’t want to lose it. It should stay in the county. The residents deserve to keep their history.”
George Anne, as museum curator, spends a lot of her time in her office sorting through items donated to the museum. In her office is a large bottle collection old office machines and some textiles in poor condition found in a Karannkwa dugout.
“Why aren’t these in the regular museum”,” George Anne was asked. “If we can’t find money to preserve them, we can’t put them out,” she replied.
George Anne looks forward to the day when a new museum is built. She would like to have room to develop a Spanish colonial section.
“There is a whole lot of history in Calhoun County,” she said. “We can’t flush it out because we don’t have room for it. I would also like to expand the natural history area and to have a section on ecology and wildlife.”
George Anne is very proud of the museum’s civil war display. The museum houses many items believed brought to the county by the war profiteers known as “Black Runners.” They ran blockades during the civil war to deliver supplies to whichever north or south sympathizer that had the money to pay for the goods.
“This area was an important spot for dispersing supplies during the civil war,” George Anne said.
George Anne regrets the limited storage and display space at the museum. “We have two small storage facilities and little room for display,” she said. “We have to limit ourselves to items that we can accept.”
While the Calhoun County Museum is a small one, George Anne seems to be happy there. “Every since I have grown up I have wanted to be a Victorian archeologist and work in a museum,” she said. “At the age of 19 I went to work in a San Antonio museum and I have worked in museums since that time.”
George Anne said she has known about Calhoun County and Indianola for a long time before coming here. Her best friend Bobbi McCillion’s family came into Indianola from Tennessee on a ship.
Bobbie bought a house in Indianola and when she died she left it to George Anne.
“I love living there (Indianola), “ George Anne concludes.
The old relics enclosed within the walls date back anywhere from several hundreds of years ago to about 100 years
To educate the visitors to the museum about the county relics is curator George Anne Cormier. She has been with the museum since 1996.
George Anne is well equipped to do the teaching since she is a 19-year employee of the San Antonio Association, the Witte Museum and San Antonio Museum of Arts.
“The purpose of the museum is to preserve the history of Calhoun County,” George Anne says as she begins a tour. She knows every item as if it came from her own home and soon the people she guides through the museum get swept up into the aura of the old relics.
The idea of having a county museum actually dates back to a Junior Service League of several decades ago. But it was the 1964 Calhoun County Commissioner Court that decided to have a county museum.
The museum began with a few items placed in the old County Jail located next door to the current museum site. The current building used to be the county library. A new library was built on the north side of town by the current IBC Bank. The old jailhouse made of materials that tend to crumble after a half century or so, was no longer safe. So the museum was moved into the library building. The old jail museum was demolished in 1991.
At first the museum was moved into the courthouse annex. When the library was moved to the new building, the museum moved in.
The Calhoun County Historical Commission was no doubt pleased about the move. The old library gives the museum more atmosphere. It has some problems, though.
“We don’t have enough room to display all of our items,” George Anne says.
She looks forward to the day when another plan is realized, one that involves building a library at the Lighthouse Beach next to the Bauer Community Center. George Anne indicates that plan is quite a few dollars away.
In the meantime the precious relics are safe in the snug old library building.
“This is the beacon from he Matagorda Lighthouse,” George Anne says, pointing to the piece de resistance (focal point of the museum).
The beacon dates back to 1870. The actual lighthouse still stands on Matagorda Island but the beacon, a beautiful piece, rests in the museum. George Anne admits its is quite an attraction for light house fanatics. The beacon is actually the fourth one to be used in the lighthouse, George Anne said.
George Anne then moves towards a beautiful old handmade bed. Above it hangs a picture of the man who made the bed, William Allen.
“The bed was made in Indianola,” George Anne explains. “Allen was listed in the 1870 census with his wife Catherine. He was listed in the Indianola census as a carpenter. The family with their bed left Indianola in 1873, a couple of years before the major 1875 hurricane hit.”
“This is a very important piece because we have the Provencal (data)” George Anne says.
The museum contains other pre-hurricane items. There is a large piano that survived both the 1875 and 1876 hurricanes.
There is a muzzle-loading shotgun at the museum brought there by Mary Wall. She brought it to the museum in an old trunk. She and some other older women put it together, according to George Anne.
George Anne knows that the piano was purchased in 1872 by Samuel Kinley for his daughter Freda, who taught piano lessons. It was purchased in Boston and shipped to Indianola. Fleeing from the 1970 hurricane, it was left behind wrapped in mattresses and quilts. “When the family returned after the hurricane, the only part of their home that was left was the living room floor with the piano standing on it,” George Anne says, giving a chuckle. “The piano was taken to Cuero, then San Antonio and was finally brought back to Calhoun County. It was donated to the museum by teacher Catherine Dechart Ryan and husband Patrick J. Ryan, a former postmaster.
There is another old bed at the museum from Indianola left at the museum as a bequest by Rubecca Rubburt.
Sitting on George Anne’s desk is what is believed to be fossilized Mammoth teeth and a fossilized stone crab.
The museum houses a collection of prehistoric arrows and dart points and stone tools. They come from a secret site. The Calhoun County Historical Commission does not was the site to be disturbed. This collection was donated by Charles Husak He has been collecting since 1935.
Husak gives talks to children about Native Americans.
There is an authentic Bison head in the museum. George Anne said a second Bison head will soon be donated to the museum by a Houston man “who fell in love with the museum and willed them to the museum.”
Another museum feature is a map of old Fort Esparanza that was on Matagorda Island during the War Between the States. Complementing the map is some old cannon balls and mini balls used during the war.
George Anne is very proud of a photographic collection. “We are always trying to find new ones of Calhoun County,” she said.
Most of the photograph collection was donated by former Tax Assessor Katie Guidry, who is now deceased.
An old jail cell from the jail, the spiral staircase that was in the jail and some old bricks are being kept in the museum.
The museum houses an old book collection that tells the history of the Rene Robert Cavelier Sieur de LaSalle expedition.
One of the books was written by Henri Detonty and another by Henri Joutel.
George Anne says “there are all kinds of papers and documents here. Sometimes you get originals and some times copies.”
Behind the glass enclosed cases are German porcelain china dating back to 1822 and many other small items representing a part of Calhoun County’s past.
The oldest encased items, however, actually were obtained through the excavation of LaSalle’s ship, La Belle.
“The whole center section of the museum is from the LaBelle,” George Anne said. “They are in our museum on a permanent loan. We worked for six years to get this exhibit. It will be expanded whenever we move to a new museum. Millions of objects were found on the ship. The LaSalle shipwreck is the oldest discovered French shipwreck in the United States. Many wood and cloth items on the ship were preserved because they were covered with silt. That kept the oxygen and bacteria away.”
George Anne said Calhoun County would have received many more items off the LaBelle if there had been an adequate place to display them. “We lost out on being a repository because we did not have room for storage,” she said. “If another shipwreck is found, I don’t want to lose it. It should stay in the county. The residents deserve to keep their history.”
George Anne, as museum curator, spends a lot of her time in her office sorting through items donated to the museum. In her office is a large bottle collection old office machines and some textiles in poor condition found in a Karannkwa dugout.
“Why aren’t these in the regular museum”,” George Anne was asked. “If we can’t find money to preserve them, we can’t put them out,” she replied.
George Anne looks forward to the day when a new museum is built. She would like to have room to develop a Spanish colonial section.
“There is a whole lot of history in Calhoun County,” she said. “We can’t flush it out because we don’t have room for it. I would also like to expand the natural history area and to have a section on ecology and wildlife.”
George Anne is very proud of the museum’s civil war display. The museum houses many items believed brought to the county by the war profiteers known as “Black Runners.” They ran blockades during the civil war to deliver supplies to whichever north or south sympathizer that had the money to pay for the goods.
“This area was an important spot for dispersing supplies during the civil war,” George Anne said.
George Anne regrets the limited storage and display space at the museum. “We have two small storage facilities and little room for display,” she said. “We have to limit ourselves to items that we can accept.”
While the Calhoun County Museum is a small one, George Anne seems to be happy there. “Every since I have grown up I have wanted to be a Victorian archeologist and work in a museum,” she said. “At the age of 19 I went to work in a San Antonio museum and I have worked in museums since that time.”
George Anne said she has known about Calhoun County and Indianola for a long time before coming here. Her best friend Bobbi McCillion’s family came into Indianola from Tennessee on a ship.
Bobbie bought a house in Indianola and when she died she left it to George Anne.
“I love living there (Indianola), “ George Anne concludes.
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