Chase County Historical Society and Museum

Specific Need

Donations are how the Chase County Historical Society and Museum are able to preserve artifacts, educate and keep up on building maintenance.

With Match Day funds we plan to provide more resources such as, books and videos to capture our past and present before it is lost, to hold special community events and restorations, such as, the upstairs "ballroom" to use for, climate safe storage for artifacts, events and more exhibit space.

Mission

As stated in the bylaws: The mission of this society shall be to collect, organize, document and preserve all materials pertinent to the history of Chase County, Kansas.

Profile

The Chase County Historical Society was formed in 1934. 75 years after the County Seat was announced. The first meetings and collections were stored in the Courthouse basement and later moved to the basement of the library. In 1976 the "Bank" building was purchased for a museum to be open to the public. In 2005 the "Cartter" building located just south off the museum was purchased from the USD 284 school board. These buildings were placed on the National Historic Register in 1977.

The Chase County Historical Society & Museum is a Non profit organization. We offer today 2 buildings of displays. A Knute Rockne plane crash site display in the South building including a "Rockne" Studebaker car and houses our genealogy department. The north building has 2 floors and 9 rooms that display local items donated or on loan that are telling stories of our past.

What do we offer besides displays?

• Historical books on Chase County: Chase County Sketches I - IV, Roots & Patchwork, Courthouse Centennial 1972 & Sesquicentennial 2023
• Museum library of books
• A research library on history: Communities and people
• Genealogy department: Obituaries, cemeteries, family files and much more
• Newspaper archives and a micro film Machine
• Special events: Rockne Memorials every 5 years (2026), and a Chase County Fair exhibit 
• Educational programs: Hosting school & community tours, videos on historic history and Social media post & stories
• Special displays: Veterans display Memorial weekend & Veterans Day and a monthly themed showcase

What are we working on currently:

• Chase County Sketches book V 
• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, "Victory Talks on the Home Front", WWII influence on Chase County. A presentation by CCHS&M volunteer Dr. Alfred Eckes and artifacts to view from the Historical Societies archives. September 21, 2024
• Biannual Newsletter
• A booth display at the Chase County Fair 2024 to show awareness of the Historical Society & Museum and collection of family histories for CSCO Sketches book V.
• Chase County history videos, produced by Dr. Alfred Eckes. There are now 8 to view on You Tube and through our Website.

Maintenance & Repairs :

• The bank building stone staircase is crumbling and becoming unsafe to climb down and the basement wall that supports the museum is bowing & needs tuck point work. A bid has been made and we are waiting for KS state approval so we can begin.
• The Cartter Building is the  main entrance to the Historical Society & museum. The up stairs of this building has been in bad shape for a long time. We are preparing to remodel two front rooms to be used for safe storage of archives. New metal shelving on wheels has been purchased to hold and organize these archives.
• While stone work was being done on the front of the building last year a front panel was removed in order for the stone masons to work. Behind the panel was a threshold, door and staircase to the up stairs. It was decided by the board to leave this area open and not replace the panel. A new lock has been placed on the door, deteriorating joist board and soft threshold boards are  needing to be replaced

These are just a few of the things we offer and are working on. We are excited to provide more!