Stemtown Historical Society Museum

06/24/2026

Open today from 11-2! Sharon will be your greeter. We will have America 250 pins available for purchase for $5.00 each. Please visit the gift shop!

06/23/2026

Did you know there is a National Bell Ringing on July 4th and we plan to participate in Green Springs, Ohio?!

On July 4, 1963, President John F. Kennedy established “National Bell Ringing Day” via U.S. Congressional Resolution Number 25, famously declaring, “Let’s ring freedom bells!”

The decline in national bell ringings and public participation in them stems from " shifting cultural and religious landscapes, the deterioration of aging belfry structures, and a sharp drop in volunteers to plan local involvement. " Churches have moved to electronic bells and there are less university and community carillons in working order. The bustle of lives and priorities on the Independence Day holidays have also added to the loss of the tradition.

Because the Liberty Bell sustained a major fracture in 1846, and in an effort to preserve it, it is no longer rung. Every July 4th children who are descendants of the signers of the Declaration of Independence symbolically tap the bell 13 times to honor the original thirteen colonies. This is usually done at 2:00pm.

For this July 4, 2026, the National Let Freedom Ring Bell ceremony is taking on additional meaning across our nation. Descendants of the signers of the Declaration of Independence will perform the official tapping of the Liberty Bell. Americans across the country are encouraged to unite at 2:50 PM local time to ring bells in recognition of the Semiquincentennial .

Since our belfry at the Stemtown Museum was restored in time as our America 250-GS legacy project, we want to make this year a year to join the celebration and ring our bell! (The last time the bell was rung was at the final service of the Calvary Church on June 26, 2022 prior to deconsecration)

You are invited to stop by the museum, 111 S Kansas Street to listen or ring your own bells wherever you are! (We will have a few tiny bells for you or bring your own to join in

06/23/2026

Working on our clothing inventory. Who remembers seeing this group twirling their way down Broadway in an Independence Day parade?

06/22/2026

Happy Monday! According to the National day calendar, this is “National Kissing Day”. Here’s a post card from our collections showing a couple with the caption “Have a Germ Proof Kiss”.

06/21/2026

Did you attend the Calvary Church (now home to our museum)? Do you recognize this brass cross? Trying to determine its provenance.

06/21/2026

Just another unidentified man and his dog. Happy Fathers’ Day to all the fathers out there. Reminder the museum is closed today.

06/20/2026

Good day for golf …or should I say croquet? This photo could very well have been taken on the grounds of the Oak Ridge Hotel. They did offer croquet as an entertainment.

Reminder that there are no regular Sunday hours tomorrow at the museum. We will be closed for Fathers Day.

06/19/2026

You were a big help on the previous photograph so here’s another “Who are they? “ with the same group of July 1983 photos.

06/19/2026

Looking for help to identify this gentleman.

06/19/2026

Today is Juneteenth, a national holiday commemorating the end of slavery in America. On June 19, 1865, two months after the Confederacy surrendered and more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Union troops finally arrived in Texas, the westernmost Confederate state, and spread the word there that freedom was the law of the land.

There are many stories about slaves escaping north through Ohio. The River-to-Lake Freedom Trail is a designated commemorative route in Ohio tracing the historic Underground Railroad. It generally follows U.S. Route 23 north from the Ohio River at Portsmouth, shifting to State Route 4 toward Sandusky on Lake Erie, honoring the paths freedom seekers took to escape to Canada.

Not far from Green Springs, in Seneca County's Reed Township on SR4, is the Omar Chapel, a station on the Underground Railroad. There is an Underground Railroad historic marker at the John Seymour House in nearby Belevue's Lyme Village. There is marker telling of Lizzie Anderson of Clyde at the Ohio Turnpike plaza near Fremont. Sandusky has a walking tour marking 13 different sites.

You may know of local stories that tell of safe houses where slaves were given a place to rest while making the challenging journey north to freedom. Today is a good day to reflect on the history of slavery in America.

(A historical marker located near Vickery in Sandusky County, Ohio.)