Museum adapts with the times

One chilly morning last week, I spent 90 minutes at the Foster County Museum on the west edge of Carrington.

A lot of progress has been made in recent years to preserve the collection and make Foster County's history more accessible to the public.

Members Cathy Paulson, Joe Voglewede and Mike Larson gave me the grand tour, one day after 40 Foster County 4-H youth experienced the same.

Currently, the historical society receives one-quarter mill, or $8,432.51 in county property taxes each year. That's enough to sustain their monthly bills, including utilities, and do a little maintenance. For major building repairs and project support, they rely on grants and donations.

The majority of the museum is heated, making it possible for not only the public to visit year-round but also for volunteers to continue their work throughout the winter. The heat also better preserves the delicate items that are prone to decay in cold temperatures.

Everything in the collection has been cleaned, and air purifiers have been placed inside to remove environmental impurities. A new handicapped-accessible bathroom was installed two years ago.

Grant funds from Otter Tail Power Company led to the installation of new LED lighting throughout the main buildings, and sump pumps were placed to deal with the water issues that are prevalent in the area.

Wireless internet was installed by Dakota Central, and the museum has a computer, printer and scanner.

The myriad of items that recount Foster County's history contained within the walls of the museum each have a place. From the books filled with information about Foster County's business community over the past 130 years to the themed interpretive areas separated by divider walls, there is a lot to discover.

Have a little time for discovery? Try the genealogy section, which features the old tax assessors' briefcases, one for each township in the county. Think of them as treasure chests, each containing random items about the township and the people who lived there.

In that area you might find Mike Larson. A licensed plumber by trade, Larson has a keen interest in preserving the county's history. He has learned how to use a variety of technology to make the museum's collection more accessible to the public.

Right now he's in the process of scanning hundreds of negatives to digitally preserve and archive photos from the county's past. "Twenty years from now, we'll still be doing this," he says. The collection is vast, containing boxes of negatives from photo studios that operated over decades as well as glass negatives and more. The negatives must be cleaned, then scanned with a special scanner to pick up the image stored there. Once the image appears on the computer, it must be edited in Photoshop to capture as much of the detail as possible.

They also use the scanner to digitally preserve paper prints, postcards and other printed images. It's tedious work.

Visitors can peruse the collection of photos already archived and get 4-by-6 prints made upon request.

If a trip to the museum isn't in your immediate plans, here are a few ways you can experience Foster County history right now, and get a glimpse of the work already done by volunteers:

Visit the Foster County Historical Society Online History Tour website- https://sway.office.com/EfItAs9xbDqa1Rf4

Find Foster County Historical Society on Youtube. Larson has uploaded videos that were digitally archived from 8 mm films. Among them is a video from the 1958 parade down Main Street in Carrington. There are more to come, so check back or subscribe so you can be notified when new ones are uploaded.

Search and read decades of newspaper archives from all of Foster County's newspapers at https://carringtonlibrary.advantage-preservation.com/

There's a question on the Nov. 8 ballot about increasing the mill levy for the historical society to three-quarters of one mill, the maximum allowed by state law. That would generate around $25,000 per year. The additional funds, members say, would be primarily used for major repairs to the buildings and grounds.

The Rusk Auto House that sits behind the main entrance to the museum needs a new concrete foundation. The materials for this wood-framed structure came in a kit sold by The Fargo Cornice & Ornament Company in the early 1900s. Only about five of these buildings still stand, including the one on the museum grounds. The rafters are made of one-inch thick boards, and the walls and roof of steel panels. These structures were used as early garages for the Ford Model Ts that had started to gain popularity at the time.

The historical society also owns the Putnam House, the American Foursquare Home that stands tall on Main Street. Built by pioneer lumberman Thomas Nichols Putnam and his wife Clara Belle, the local historical society purchased the home in 2001. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The structure needs major exterior maintenance. Ideally, members say, steel siding would be installed, which has a lifespan of approximately 50 years. Members have sought bids to have the original wood siding preserved and painted. The cost of the steel siding is estimated at $80,000, which would take years to generate even with the additional tax funds. The cost of painting, for which no bid has been received, would need to be repeated again every 5-10 years. The roof will need to be replaced in the coming years as well.

There's always work to do, and volunteers conclude that a little more funding will go a long way towards those efforts. A resident who owns a home worth $100,000 will pay $2.25 per year, about the cost of a cup of coffee at the local restaurant. Farmers and ranchers will pay approximately $3.20 annually per quarter section of land (based on the average true and full value of land in the county, $127,853).