In preparation for the eventual move to the Mead Building, the Dakota Territorial Museum is hard at work cataloging and storing every item in the collection so it will be safe with the move to a new home. Sometimes, we find pieces that would be better used by another museum. Such was the case with our historical fire hose cart which has long been on display outside. This week it left for restoration before finding a new home with the Yankton Fire Department Museum, opening la

This week the first of the twelve curved windows was removed from the second story parlors for restoration. These windows are a different construction from those on the main floor. The top of the arch is filled in with wood to fill the square opening. The unique construction of these windows requires a bit more work to restore than the windows on the main floor. Workers at the Mead Building have been developing methods and equipment to work with all the different window types

Recent rains forced work on the Mead Building to the inside. In a building as large as the Mead, there were many items left behind and tucked away in back rooms. The focus this week was in relocating Civil Defense supplies that were left behind in the basement. After a few days of work, there were five pallets of material, two of which are badly damaged due to the long term storage in poor conditions. Each pallet weighs about 1000 pounds! Common items include 72 pound boxes o

As work continues on the restoration of the Mead Building, we are also busy at the Dakota Territorial Museum cataloguing and storing items for the move to the new location. In the early years of the Museum many items were donated and never documented This week we have found some real treasures hiding in the archive. One of the most impressive items is this sign from the Germania House, a hotel and gathering place for German speaking settlers. If you have questions about the p