Rostraver historical society ready to show off additions

By Christine Haines

chaines@yourmvi.com

After more than six months of being open by appointment only, the Rostraver Township Historical Society Sunday is throwing open the doors to its museum for an open house.

The museum is located at 800 Fellsburg Road in the former Fells United Methodist Episcopal Church, which was built in 1835. The third annual open house will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. There is no admission fee, but donations are accepted.

Visitors will have an opportunity to tour the new Rostraver and Civil War rooms which explore aspects of the township’s history not previously addressed in detail by the museum. Also new is a Veterans Garden and a Flag Plaza that was installed this summer as an Eagle Scout project. There will be a flag-raising ceremony by the scouts at 2 p.m.

The Rostraver Room gives visitors an opportunity to stroll down memory lane as they look through scrapbooks and yearbooks and peruse the numerous photos on the walls.

Stu Boyd, vice president of the historical society, said the museum is trying to preserve a photographic history of the township, gathering images of the many schools and businesses that no longer exist. Boyd said some of the old scrapbooks are particularly interesting.

“There are all kinds of documents that go into these books,” he said.

Artifacts for the Rostraver Room are still being accepted. Boyd said he is looking forward to the day COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and the historical society can hold meetings again and people can compare old photos to what’s in the same location today.

“We encourage audience participation and we get a lot,” he said.

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