Visit Athens Alabama
  • Home
  • Calendar & Events
  • Plan Your Visit
  • Lodging
    • Camp Grounds
  • Restaurants
  • Picture Galleries
  • Contact Us
    • Visitor Center Meeting Room
    • Our Community
  • house

Limestone Co Archives - Opens Doors

11/16/2017

0 Comments

 

​​LIMESTONE COUNTY ARCHIVES, ATHENS GIRL SCOUTS PARTNER TO OPEN RENOVATED FACILITY, NEW EXHIBIT

Picture
​ATHENS, Ala. – For more than a year, the doors of the former train depot that houses the Limestone County Archives were closed to the public while crews worked to install a fire protection system, remove lead paint, and a host of other activities all designed to restore and protect this building and its priceless contents, the historic record of Limestone County.
On Nov. 16, archivists will fling the doors open wide and...

... welcome the public inside for an exclusive look at the results of the nearly half a million dollars’ worth of renovations to the facility and the first local history exhibit installed in the new exhibit space, “Driving Forces: How Athens Got Here,” created by Girl Scout Troop 10338 in partnership with the Limestone County Archives.
Visitors will be allowed to tour the facility, view the exhibit, and enjoy refreshments in the research room from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 16.

As part of the renovations, the building’s contents were rearranged to be able to convert the former depot agent’s office into an exhibit space, open for locally-created as well as traveling exhibits that highlight aspects of local history and its connection to state and national events. “Driving Forces” will be on display through early December, when the next exhibit will be installed, the traveling exhibit “Remembering the Great War: Alabama and World War One.”

Four Cadettes of the Athens Bible School Girl Scout Troop 10388 -- Lillian Pennington, Jessie Green, Claire Sandlin, and Sarah Cagle – created “Driving Forces: How Athens Got Here” for their Silver Award project, in which they each contribute 50 hours of community service after completing academic studies in prior years. Their goal was to benefit the community by highlighting hometown history.

Each Girl Scout spent hours at the Limestone County Archives and at home, researching the origin of 25 street names in Athens and collecting other bits of historical information for the exhibit. The final exhibit includes a map of Athens with chosen streets and information visible about the namesakes and their lives and contributions. The girls, who have all been in Girl Scouts since kindergarten, will be on hand at the exhibit opening to answer questions and share more about what they have learned about their hometown.

“I am excited about partnering with local Girl Scouts to create and host this exhibit, and more importantly, to give them the opportunity to delve into our history and then share with the community what they have learned,” said Rebekah Davis, Archivist at the Limestone County Archives. “Our mission is preserving and sharing the history of Limestone County so that it is available today and for generations to come, and that only happens when people like these Girl Scouts take ownership of and pride in their community story.”

The Limestone County Archives building, the former L&N Passenger Depot built in 1905 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was closed from August 2016 to August 2017 to accommodate multiple renovation projects totaling almost $479,000. Those funds came from an Alabama Department of Transportation grant, an Alabama Historic Records Advisory Board grant, and matching funds from the Limestone County Commission and the Friends of the Archives.
​
Changes included installing a fire suppression system, removing lead-based paint and stripping interior walls to the original wood, replacing exterior decks and rotting exterior structures and paneling, painting a new coat on the exterior, adding recessed lighting and insulation, replacing flooring tile in records storage areas, installing ultraviolet-blocking film on all windows, and installing humidity and temperature data recorders.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    August 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016


​Board of Directors
Privacy Statement
​Athens City Links
​Limestone County Links
Alabama200.org
​North Alabama Travel and Tourism
​Alabama Tourism Department


Contact Us
Copyright © 2016-2022
​Athens-Limestone County
Tourism Association
​100 N. Beaty Street
Athens, Alabama 35611
(256) 232-5411


Photo used under Creative Commons from U.S. Embassy New Delhi
  • Home
  • Calendar & Events
  • Plan Your Visit
  • Lodging
    • Camp Grounds
  • Restaurants
  • Picture Galleries
  • Contact Us
    • Visitor Center Meeting Room
    • Our Community
  • house