History lovers in Grundy County have long been waiting to tell the stories of the area’s past.
As the birthplace of the Tennessee steel industry and an economic refuge for the Swiss, the county has a storied history, said Janelle Taylor, president of the Grundy County Historical Society.
“We’ve had a lot of historical happenings here,” she said. “This county is kind of a unique place.”
Members of the historical society soon will have what they’ve wanted — a place to share Grundy’s history with others.
Through fundraising and a $50,000 federal grant and loan combination, the historical society bought the First National Bank building at 465 Railroad Ave. in Tracy City, Tenn., Ms. Taylor said. The structure will be used as the society’s Heritage Center and will contain a research library, display hall and assembly hall.
Since 1988, the group has worked out of what Ms. Taylor described as a “very, very small closet-sized area” inside the Tracy City Public Library. As years passed, the tiny room filled with artifacts of county history.
“You get two or three people in there and nobody can move around much,” Ms. Taylor said. “You couldn’t find anything.”
The renovation of the building’s north side, connecting to what used to be the Cheek Pharmacy, marks the first phase of the project.
Development committee chairman Oliver Jervis, said that portion of the building will house the research library and, if all goes well, will by open by March 1. Ms. Taylor said it will have computers, microfilm, census data and other ways to access ancestry information.
Renovation crews have made several interesting discoveries, Mr. Jervis said, including vials of tear gas.
“The safe had, behind the locking mechanism on the inside of the door, two vials of tear gas, so that if anyone actually had punctured through the door, the tear gas would have gone off and knocked them all out,” Mr. Jervis said.
In the project’s second phase, a 1978 addition will be renovated for use as a display hall. Mr. Jervis said work on that area should be finished by June or July.
The display will showcase significant people and places, including the Swiss Historical Society, the Chikamaka Indians and the antebellum resort at Beersheba Springs, Ms. Taylor said.
John Baggenstoss, former president of the Swiss Historical Society, said the organization decided to partner with the Grundy County Historical Society two or three years ago when the idea for a separate building came up. Members of the Swiss Historical Society just couldn’t find the funding for their own museum, he said.
The Heritage Center is “something that’s way long overdue, to have a central location for the history of the area,” Mr. Baggenstoss said.
Those involved in the project also believe the center could bring more tourism to the area.
Grundy County Mayor LaDue Bouldin said two books published by the historical society already have brought some recognition to the county, and he hopes the Heritage Center will provide a place for more people to see what it has to offer.
“We think it will … give people a starting point for visiting our county,” he said.