Rostraver Historical Society ready to welcome public again

By CHRISTINE HAINES

chaines@yourmvi.com

The Rostraver Township Historical Society will open its doors to the public for the first time in more than a year.

Since October 2019, the museum at the old Fells Church has been open by appointment only due to renovations and COVID-19 restrictions. But on April 11, the doors will be thrown open to the general public for an open house from 1-4 p.m.

“We haven’t had a meeting since March 2020 and no one’s been in the building since October 2019,” said historical society President Stuart Boyd. “The idea is to show people the renovations that have taken place.”

Boyd said the finishing touches were just added in the past week or so.

“We’ve been working on it for the past three years. The expensive part was the new flooring. We got some large donations and we did a lot of the work ourselves,” he said. “We had a contractor put a new ceiling up and rewire the sanctuary. He finished the walls upstairs.”

Boyd said the contractor provided the structural integrity needed for the old building to remain stable. The church was built in 1835 and its main beams were beginning to sag.

“We had to install eight columns in the balcony of the building. That was to strengthen the 40-foot beams. They had a 5 ½-inch sag after 186 years,” Boyd said.  

There are two major themes along the sanctuary balcony. On the right side of the balcony is the history of the flags that have flown over Rostraver Township. On the left is a timeline of military uniforms, starting with a Revolutionary War ranger’s outfit and ending with the Iraq war.

“All of our uniforms and displays are from Rostraver Township citizens,” Boyd said. “We stick to keeping it relevant to Rostraver Township.”

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