Seventy years ago, in May of 1953, the Dorchester County Historical Society began its first official activity, which was locating a home/headquarters for its operations. Several years later, the founders and early members purchased and restored the Meredith House, the old home built around 1760 that is situated on our current museum campus.
It is likely that the original founders saw the Meredith House and its property as a great space to begin their mission to preserve and protect local history, but it seems unlikely that they could imagine how much their work would grow in seventy years. New generations of members and generous sponsors led to new pieces of history being added to the property, such as the smokehouse building that we call the Strong House, or the Goldsborough Stable from the nearby Shoal Creek Manor. As people took notice of the work that DCHS had begun, our membership grew, and so did our collection.
With the knowledge that the Meredith House was not large enough to hold significant pieces and records of county history, others stepped in to construct the Neild museum, Robbins Heritage Center, and Todd Research Library. All of these buildings are utilized by DCHS today, and our collection of historic artifacts and knowledge continues to expand.
We are so thankful to the countless people who have put their time and effort into helping DCHS survive for so long. We sincerely hope to be around for another seventy years.
To kick off our anniversary, our Society held a special ribbon cutting event with the Dorchester Chamber of Commerce on May 25th, which has made us excited about other events and programs coming up this year. We hope you will keep an eye on our calendar and check out our Facebook page for updates on what is happening at our museum campus throughout the rest of the year.
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