By Ronda Wertman
Tribune Correspondent
WESTERNPORT — A transformation is underway at the Westernport Heritage Society Museum on Maryland Avenue.
Housed in the former train station, the museum goes far beyond just railroad memories.
“We’ve been doing a lot of work in here. We’ve got some good volunteers,” said Heritage Society President Tom Clayton as members of the Mineral County Genealogy Society recently toured the facilities.
The Western Maryland Station was built in 1945 and included three rooms: The passenger area, ticket office and freight room.
The passenger area features the original station clock. Clayton explained that during the day all railroad clocks were precisely timed. The clocks were linked to a telegraph line so that all clocks had the correct time within a second or two. He said the same system was used in London’s subway system.
The passenger area provides a showcase for the museum collections, including a photo of Oliver Bruce, whose papers are with the society, military memorabilia including a WWI jacket and WWII Purple Heart, and a cannon ball from the Keyser area that for years was kept in a refrigerator until it was deactivated.
The front room is also home to the society’s “Main Street: Then and Now” display, which was presented at the Westernport Library for several months this year.
The ticket office showcases several collections of model trains along with the Whistle Toot Gift Shop featuring large and small collectibles.
Also on sale are tickets for a Western Maryland Lionel Train set. The drawing is set for Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Also in this room is the resource library with a collection of books and papers about people in the Tri-Towns, soldiers that served, and more.
“A lot of neat stories are in there,” said Clayton of the collection, which also included the Piedmont Herald files and a variety of family histories.
Genealogy Society President Debbie Fleming presented a copy of the second cemetery book to the museum for its collection.
The freight room is currently used for storage, but Clayton gave members a peek into the contents, most of which have been donated to the society. There are over 40 lanterns, bottle collections, a handmade crib made from an orange crate, a dollhouse and more.
The society’s mission is to preserve local history so that “the young may know and the old will remember.”
The museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m. on the second and fourth weekends of each month.
The Mineral County Genealogy Society will hold its next meeting at 6 p.m., Monday, Oct. 12, at the Janes United Methodist Church, Keyser.
Guest Speaker will be Lavauda Pownell. The public is invited to attend.
For more information call 304-788-1004.