7-13-23 Thursday News 12 A.M.
The Marshall County Historical Society Museum held the grand re-opening of its newly refurbished Historic Crossroads Center on Friday and Saturday, July 7th and 8th. On Friday, Blake Norton, director of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center in Shawnee, OK, was a special guest, and presented a very well-attended Brown Bag on the 7 Fires Prophecy.
Saturday’s festivities began with a members-only breakfast. Norton presented a paper on influential local Potawatomi chief, Wabaunsee. At 11:00, Blake cut the ribbon to open the new exhibit. More than 100 people toured the new Historic Crossroads Center on Saturday.
The renovation was largely funded by a Heritage Support Grant from the Indiana Historical Society, made possible by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. Additional funding was provided by generous individual and corporate donors, as well as REMC, the Marshall County Arts & Culture Subcommittee, and the Marshall County Tourism Board. The grand re-opening was funded by 1st Source Bank, Hoosier Racing Tires, and Oliver Ford.
The new exhibit adds a Native American story station created in partnership with the CHC Cultural Heritage Center. This features a three-quarter size wigwam and a Potawatomi-language interactive. It also tells the story of the changing natural landscape with the coming of European and American settlers and how early settlements grew along with the roads.
A fourth new story station provides the history of local migrant families written in conjunction with some of their descendants. The expanded exhibit explains how County agriculture evolved and provides details on the growth of transportation- and tourist-based business and industry.
Originally created in 2011, the Historic Crossroads exhibit explores the theme of transportation and is foundational to our history. Beginning in the 1830s, the Michigan Road followed an Indian trail and cut through the heart of our County. It was joined about 75 years later by four historic highways – Lincoln, the Grand Army of the Republic, the Yellowstone Trail, and the Dixie Highway. Marshall County is the only place in the entire country where all five roads cross.
The Marshall County Museum is located at 123 N. Michigan St., Plymouth. The hours are 10:00 – 4:00, Tuesday through Saturday.
Photo 1: Blake Norton, director of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center cut the ribbon to open the Marshall County Historical Society Museum’s newest exhibit, the re-imagined Crossroads Historical Center. Pictured are intern Brenna Large, Historical Society board president Mike Miley, Norton, Assistant Director Sue Irwin and Museum Director Sandy Garrison.
Photo 2: The Boener and Troyer families were definitely “in to” the ¾ scale Wigwam last Saturday at the Marshall County Historical Society Museum.
