The Millstadt Historical Society announced some big progress earlier this year with the news it had secured a physical location for a long-desired museum.

With several months of continued effort since, the organization’s dream stemming from its founder is closer than ever to being realized.

Joan Mier, who serves as the group’s president, discussed the Millstadt Historical Society and all the work that’s led up to having a real museum space.

Mier recalled how the society began in 1999 under the leadership of Glenn Schaefer, who headed the organization before handing the reins to Mier last year.

Schaefer unfortunately passed away last month. Mier emphasized the drive he had when it came to preserving and celebrating the community’s history, with that passion still felt within the group.

“We kind of think of him as the founding father of the organization,” Mier said. “He had a tremendous passion for preserving the history of Millstadt and was involved with various projects.”

With about 50 members, the historical society has long had a presence in Millstadt and has pushed to be even more visible in recent years.

Mier pointed to the annual Millstadt Village-Wide Yard Sale as the society’s biggest fundraiser of the year, though members can also be found at local events like the Fireman’s Picnic.

When it comes to the society’s real mission, the focus is, as Mier said, “To collect and record the history of Millstadt, taking time to display historical memorabilia.”

Schaefer long led the charge in that area as the organization took ownership of a historic log cabin moved to Kalbfleisch Street and similarly began caring for the small jail behind the community’s police station.

Mier also spoke about a mini-museum put together last year at the township building, with various pieces of history – such as artifacts of education – on display.

A longtime goal for Schaefer and the society as a whole has been the establishment of a space to properly display the group’s historical artifacts, though the ideal space never presented itself.

“I think there were a couple of opportunities throughout the years; however, financially, it was going to be challenging for us to be able to take that on,” Mier said.

A new opportunity presented itself early last year after the society had let the Millstadt Chamber of Commerce know it was attempting to find a physical location.

It was in March that the group was invited by attorney Otto Faulbaum to the east end of the village’s Central Bank.

“He said, ‘This is your new museum. This building is for you. You have an anonymous donor who is going to buy this side of the Central Bank for you,’ so we can have a physical building, museum here in Millstadt,” Mier said.

Looking back, Mier recalled the joy on Schaefer’s face with the announcement along with the anticipation of every other historical society member.

The past few months have been spent putting in plenty of legwork to get the upcoming museum space prepared both on paper and physically.

Mier noted how gracious Central Bank has been throughout the process.

She also discussed the renovation work that’s been done. Things have largely been kept to cleaning, while more substantial work is scheduled for when the museum’s entrance is established.

“There’s going to be renovations to the east end of the building,” Mier said. “There’s going to be a central opening for the museum put there.”

Regarding museum displays, some items have already found their way into the building, with one room focused on schooling history in the area and some additional artifacts coming from the collection of Beate Winkle, a teacher in Millstadt for over 40 years who’s been collecting for decades.

With the space really coming together, Mier discussed that the museum would be having some previews before the official opening.

As Mier spoke with the Republic-Times earlier this month, it would seem those previews were well-received, as the Millstadt Historical Society’s Facebook page notes at least one visit from folks with the Millstadt Library.

Looking ahead, Mier spoke about the society’s plans to continue sharing the museum’s progress, and the hope is for the museum to be properly open later this year.

She also acknowledged the need for continued support for the society and the museum specifically, further expressing thanks for the generosity of the donor who provided the space to begin with.

“We are beyond pleased that we had this generous gift offered to us,” Mier said. “We have this energy that we want to offer up to the community in putting this museum together, but it’s just a process. It’s not something that happens overnight.”