"The Art of Historic Preservation"

9th Annual Preservation Week 2007 Photo-Essay Competition

First Place: Daniel Baker, 12th Grade, McCreary Central High School, Stearns

Title:  “A Home for History”

The building rests above the streets of downtown Stearns, intimidating its neighbors with three stories of historical beauty.  Nearly one hundred years ago, the building was populated by businessmen and women longing to make a name for their company in the coal and lumber industry.  Presently, downtown Stearns is a place where all McCreary Countians can find food, entertainment, and historic magnificence.

Today, within the walls of the building, one can find centuries worth of remnants from our past.  From arrow heads to a moonshine still, and scenes from the good old days, the McCreary County Museum captivates all visitors who brave the thirty-three steps to enter the building.
           
However, the building wasn’t always home to our treasure from long ago.  In the beginning, the building was home to Stearns Coal and Lumber Company business offices.  Founded by Justus S. Stearns in 1902, a Michiganite from Ludington, the company proved to be a major economic value to the community.
           
The building, which happened to be the brains of the operation in Stearns’ time, now serves as our county’s own pride and joy.  Our foundation, which controls much of the tourism and historical aspects of the county, has helped us to attract over 30,000 people in 2006 alone.
           
Our museum may not seem as though it is a fancy place to visit.  It may not even seem like a place where historical greatness is preserved.  Although, to the eye of a trained history buff, the building is a gold mine that all should learn from and enjoy.
           
The preservation of all historical buildings and artifacts is a task that is just as rewarding doing as it is completing.  Knowing in your heart that you helped to preserve a piece of your past is a feeling that only a love in history itself can surpass.
           
The McCreary County Museum is an important part of our community in a countless number of ways.  It gives a way for grandparents to share their history with future generations, allows for the preservation of artifacts and memories – both of which can disappear with time – and provides a resource to everything and anything McCreary County.
           
The building isn’t just a storage facility for thousands and thousands of photos, archives, and county memorabilia from way back when, but a home to thoughts, feelings, memories and a lifestyle that is nothing to our generation but a view into a forgotten past.
           
With countless efforts and the painstakingly long hours from all devoted persons, our museum has become on of the greatest treasures in McCreary County today.  We can’t successfully say that the building, its contents, or the memories it contains will be there forever, but we can work to preserve it for future generations who may choose to preserve it just as we have done with such great passion.  After all, if a light into our ancestor’s past was not worth shining, who would we be to say that a light into our past would be either?
           
Preserve history.  It may one day be a key into understanding the future.

This essay and photograph(s) are the property of Preservation Kentucky, Inc. and Kentucky Heritage Council and that any use of the photo or essay must be approved by PK and KHC.