Cocalico Valley Museum Reopens

The email from Joanne Bender, board secretary and publicity chair of the Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley, arrived on May 24. "Good news! The Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley is opening again!" wrote Bender.

The William and Jemima Brossman Library, located at 237 W. Main St., Ephrata, in the Hamaker House adjacent to the museum, reopened on June 2 with hours from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. During June, visits should be scheduled by calling 717-733-1616. The Theodore Sprecher Museum in the Connell Mansion will open for self-guided tours each Saturday beginning July 10, with hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Groups may visit by appointment.

For those who have passed the Italianate 1869 mansion and the 1930s Tudor-style home with the stained glass bank sign in front and wondered about the picturesque buildings (both owned by the historical society), a trove of historical treasure is contained within. "We have three floors of exhibit space," explained Bender, who noted that each display case has detailed descriptions. One case is dedicated to the family that built the home. Moore and Rebecca Connell had eight children, with five girls surviving to adulthood. None of the Connell daughters married, and when the last surviving child, Nora, died in the early 1960s, the historical society purchased the home.

According to Bender, members of the society have painstakingly decorated and furnished areas of the home to make them look the way a Victorian home would have looked in the period. The parlor furniture is from other homes in the area, but the bedroom suite is original to the Connells, including the bedspread, curtains, and curtain rods with tiny mirrors attached. The bathroom with a commode and copper-lined tub is the same as when Nora lived there. "There is no water supply to the tub," noted Bender, who said that heated water from the kitchen had to be brought up the back steps to fill the tub.

Although located in Ephrata, the Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley does not limit itself to that area, but rather includes any township or borough that touches the banks of the Cocalico Creek, which includes Akron, Clay Township, and Denver. "Anything in this museum was made by or owned by someone who lived in the Cocalico Valley," explained Bender. Clocks by well-known area clockmakers, Hibshman family items, and the Ephrata 12 o'clock steam whistle, which was blown from the Ephrata Borough Electric Light Plant on Church Street, are all on display.

A children's room includes a guessing game to help youngsters identify a toaster, a celery vase, a form for knitting stockings, and a boot jack from the past. Another room is dedicated to local industries, including saddle making, printing, dairy processing, and cigar making. One display recalls a radio station that operated on the square in Ephrata into the 1980s.

Next door in the William and Jemima Brossman Library, information is available on area genealogy, deeds, and more. "We have microfiche available, digital searching, and an old-fashioned card catalog," said Bender, who noted there is a nominal fee for nonmembers to use the library.

Behind the Connell Mansion is a working print shop with the press from the Ephrata Cloister where Christmas cards and coasters are printed.

More information about the museum and library may be found at http://www.cocalicovalleyhs.org. The print shop's website is http://www.conestogapress.com.