Fredericktown Area Historical Society unveils new home

The Fredericktown Area Historical Society opened up its new, spacious home Wednesday.

The society’s new museum at the Samuel Tuttle home, 33 E. College St., Fredericktown, welcomed visitors following a ribbon cutting ceremony.

“I want to thank everybody for coming today,” said society president Jim Wagner. “I really appreciate it, especially the people of Fredericktown. This building is your building. This is where all the history of Fredericktown is kept. This is where you can learn about the history of Fredericktown and how things happened the way they did. So, please come in often and visit us.”

The ceremony included a proclamation from the Ohio Auditor’s office, which was read by Scott Brown, an official from the office.

“For generations the society has played a vital role in preserving and sharing the rich history of Fredericktown and surrounding areas. From documenting the community’s earliest days, beginning with its founding by William Farquhar in 1807, to safeguarding treasured artifacts, records and historic structures, such as the Tuttle house, your work ensures that future generations can learn from and appreciate the stories that shape this region.”

The society purchased the house from Snyder Funeral Homes last year and spent several months moving all of its artifacts from its former home on Sandusky Street. A few school groups had toured the new facility, but Wednesday’s ceremony with a large group of residents made the opening official. Following the ceremony, guests were invited to tour the building, which is spacious enough to break items into special groups and rooms.

There’s a manufacturing room that includes items from the many businesses that have called Fredericktown home; a school spirit room has uniforms, equipment and items from Fredericktown area schools, including one of the first FFA jackets; and even a room with medical equipment from several local doctors. There are even rooms upstairs to display many other items.

“The building up there (Sandusky Street) was just a big open room and everything was in that big open room. Now we can separate it out and make sense out of it,” Wagner said. “When we started doing this, I told the group, I want one of you to take one of the rooms and that’s the room I want you guys to work on. Becky and I did this little parlor. That was one of the first ones we did. Then the other members took a room and that’s what they did. After everything was there, they set it up the way they wanted to have it set up.”

The building was built by Tuttle, a businessman in Fredericktown, in 1846. The Snyders purchased the building in the early 1950s and used it as a funeral home until recently when they sold it to the society.

“This was known as the Tuttle Mansion. He (Tuttle) was like the Bill Burgett (founder of Kokosing Construction Company) of his time. He owned a lot of businesses in town, he was the big mover and shaker of the community. He lived here until about 1908-09 when he died,” Wagner said. “The house went from family to family until the Snyders bought this building in the early 1950s for a funeral home. At that time, Bill Burgett did a lot of remodeling for them. On the front, he put a new porch, he put a little room on the back. The Snyders had it until last year when we bought it. They kept real good care of the building, so it made it a lot easier for us because it was in move-in condition. It’s been working out really well so far.”

The society, which has about a dozen members, plans to open the museum the second Sunday of each month from 2-4 p.m.