Preservation Society keeps local history alive
When Prospect was approaching the 175th anniversary of its founding in 2000, residents started digging up family heirlooms and antiques they had saved for years.
The site of the defunct Critchlow general store became a hub for people to bring their artifacts, and longtime area resident Mary Harmon was one of the people organizing it.
“A lot of the older generation got so excited that they starting dragging out their grandparents' old photos,” Harmon said. “They would say their grandparents had saved things from over the years that they didn't know what to do with.”
The Prospect Area Preservation Society has worked out of the former store since that time and became a certified nonprofit organization shortly after 2000.
Prospect's bicentennial is in 2025, and Dawn Szymoniak, the society's treasurer, said the organization is hopeful to have renovations completed by then for a celebration event.
The group holds a few fundraisers a year, such as the Rube's Run 5K on July 24, to fix up its building, which is an ongoing project.“We still have so much restoration to do,” said Szymoniak, who also is Harmon's daughter. “If we could boost our membership, that would be a good place to start.”The organization takes in donations from residents, and its displays include mainly local items, such as military uniforms and tax maps that date back more than 100 years.“If you have a family member who has passed and has antiques, they can bequeath some things to us,” said Jeanne Cherry, the society's secretary.The focus on local artifacts comes from the Butler County Historical Society already possessing more widespread pieces of county and state history. Szymoniak said the organization has been in talks with Butler County to host educational talks in the building in the near future.Members of Prospect's preservation society said the small-town atmosphere of Prospect is what has made them so passionate about preserving its history.“That's why I loved it in the first place,” said Cherry, who is not a Prospect native. “Everyone here was welcoming and friendly.”
Cherry said one of her goals for the bicentennial is getting photos from local happenings and events to document modern history for future residents of the borough.Harmon said many people who live in Prospect are more recent transplants whom the preservation society hopes to educate and inspire through its displays.“People say they're not interested in history,” Cherry said. “Then you show them something from the past and they're like, 'Huh, that is interesting.'”The Prospect Area Preservation Society meets at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of each month at 383 Main St. in Prospect.Anyone interested in joining the organization or making a contribution can email jmharm@zoominternet.net.
