Orrville Historical Society strives to showcase city’s history

The Orrville Historical Society, at its home base the Smith Orr Homestead on West Market Street in Orrville, is always busy organizing events and changing displays. It takes a bevy of volunteers to keep a nonprofit organization like the historical society up and running and planning events.

Georgene Wright, an Orrville resident and longtime volunteer, archivist and curator for the group, takes pride in the work she does to keep Orrville’s history and traditions alive. Not only does she work on displays, keep records and maintain artifacts at the Smith Orr Homestead, but also she curates displays for a variety of events both in Orrville and Wayne County.

Wright provides a visible and often literal window into the past through curating exhibits at the Wayne County Community Federal Credit Union window on Market Street in Orrville, the Orrville Municipal Building and the Orrville Public Library. Wright was awarded Orrville’s Citizen of the Year in 2023.

“Georgene and volunteer Judy Pouley coordinate the homestead’s open houses, and the two go all out decorating the homestead,” said Kristin Lorson, board member of the organization. “Our organization could not survive without the work of these two ladies.”

Wright said the organization is currently collecting historical items for display as part of the Orrville All-Class Reunion, scheduled July 12-13. The items will be on display at Orrville High School.

“We are collecting historical items that people may want to donate for display for the reunion weekend,” Wright said.

The items will be collected Saturday, April 12 from noon to 3 p.m. at the Smith Orr Homestead.

Some of the items that will be displayed include a vintage majorette outfit that was handmade by the majorette’s mother and then donated to the organization by the family. There also is a blanket made out of vintage band uniforms from Orrville’s past. The organization is looking for additional similar items that may be in people’s attics and basements or maybe found as part of spring cleaning or when cleaning out a family member’s home.

Unfortunately, the harsh weather from this past winter caused some unexpected and expensive damage to the Smith Orr Homestead.

“We just had a pipe burst in the carriage house of the homestead,” Lorson said. “The pipe burst due to the extremely cold weather that we had this winter.”

Shane Scarborough, president of the organization, further explained.

“The repairs and utility bills associated with the pipe burst have us looking at close to $10,000 to remedy this whole situation,” Scarborough said. “To make the necessary repairs, we have depleted our entire emergency/improvement fund for the 2025 calendar year. We have set up a GoFundMe to help raise funds for this unexpected damage and the costs of repair.”

The organization hopes the community will rally to help it fund the repairs.

“It is our goal to keep the beautiful Smith Orr Homestead standing tall for generations to come,” Scarborough said.

Anyone wanting to help the Orrville Historical Society through a donation can visit gofund.me/07e63d23 or its Facebook page.