Carl L. Schweinfurth Historical Museum and Interpretive Center
American Patchwork
Gallery B
Patchwork Quilts
Women have from necessity, frugality and making-do created an art form - quilts.
Time and Tide Wait for No Man
Gallery D
Antique Clocks
As early as 3500 BC man has created means of telling time. This display shows utilitarian and beautiful pieces to record the passage of time.
Pioneer Weavers
Gallery E
Weaving Examples
Made by hand. To warm a body, to decorate the home, and to lift a hot lid, cloth was spun into articles that brought beauty and utility to the home, using materials from plants and animals.
The Art of Blacksmithing
Gallery F
Through the blacksmith's strokes on the anvil that formed the traditional horse shoes and tools to the current artistic strokes that create a whimsical fisherman or resplendent flowers, the art of blacksmithing has evolved.
Preserving Our Words throughout Jefferson County History
Gallery G
From slates, chalk, quill pens, fountain pens to moveable type and printing, to typewriters, to word processors and multifunctional computers, have come newspapers and the products of local authors.
U.S. Railroad Postal Clerks
Gallery H
Postal Display
Steaming though the countryside, railway workers were aboard mail coaches, sorting and delivering mail across the country.
Wedding Attire
Gallery I
Wedding Dress Display
The Jefferson County Historical Society recently added a new exhibit in the Schweinfurth Museum on the Village grounds. Put together by Historical Society board member Lucy Baker, the Wedding Dress exhibit showcases wedding dresses from the early 20th century. Several wedding dresses the Jefferson County Historical Society had in their collection are on display in a parlor-like setting, complete with wallpaper and furnishings.
Until the mid 20th century, wedding dresses were in the style of other dresses of the period. Wedding dresses were meant to be worn again, so they were not necessarily white, but maybe a more serviceable color since they would most likely be worn again and again. Brides frequently made their own dresses and the dresses were frequently two pieced – the bodice and the skirt. Some brides just wore the best dress they had and did not make or buy a new dress. Before the early 20th century, brides were often married in their homes until church weddings became popular. Not until the mid 20th century did the “white wedding” become standard with what most think of as a traditional white wedding dress, which only minimally reflected the current style of dress.
Photography
Gallery K
In photography, the steps from tin-types and experimenting with developing agents through various films, exposure meters, and flash-guns have led to the electronic digital cameras.