Heritage Seekers Historical Society

Sue Obert has donated a shoebrush from the W W Sears Shoe Store. The shoe store was located in the Sosey Building and was the only shoe store completely devoted to selling shoes. Thank you Sue for the great addition to our museum.

The Gardner House Museum is now open for visitors from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. every Friday. Pictured is the kitchen area at the Gardner House. Tours for small groups can be arranged of both Gardner House and the Old Marion County Jail. Social distancing will be praticed. Unfortunately, the montly history programs have been cancelled for the rest of 2020 due to pandemic concerns.

Heritage Seekers are now offering their 2020 Christmas ornament in the traditional historic series. The art work for the 27th editin was created by Dan Nelson to mark Palmyra's important role as the site of one of the earliest land offices west of the Mississippi in the new territory known as the Lousiana Purchase. The sale of the ornaments generates funds that go toward the upkeep of the historic Gardner House Museum and the Old Marion County Jail. Ornaments are available at the Gardner House Museum as well as the Palmyra Spectator's office and the Library on Main Street.

A new website for Heritage Seekers is being developed under the leadership of Ellen Stuhlman. The website will feature information about the Gardner House Museum as well as the Old 1858 Marion County Jail. To visit the website, which is still under development go to https://sites.google.com/view/palmyra-mo-heritage-seekers/

This old hand-drawn 1860 map of Palmyra is displayed in the entryway of the Old 1858 Marion County Jail. The original map was restored by Missouri State Library in Jefferson City and is housed at Palmyra City Hall. A digital copy of the map was provided to Heritage Seekers. The full-size copy of the historic map was mounted and framed as a memorial tribute to Dr Kenneth Leinweber who was a faithful member of both Landmarks of Northeast Missouri and Heritage Seekers.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, the remainder of the monthly programs which had been scheduled by Heritage Seekers for 2020 have been cancelled. According to Program Coordinator Carol Brentlinger, the programs will hopefully be rescheduled for 2021.