Germantown Historical Society building grand opening set for Sunday, June 28

Pictured is the Germantown Historical Society building located at 404 Mill Street in Germantown. A grand opening of the building is set for Sunday, June 28, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.        The Germantown Historical Society (GHS) will have a grand opening for their building located at 404 Mill Street in Germantown on Sunday, June 28, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
    In 2023, the Village of Germantown allowed GHS to use the old former garage building. GHS put in new windows and doors, closed in the double garage doors, and put insulation and chip board walls over the concrete blocks inside the building. New electrical wiring, lighting, heating, and air conditioning were installed making it a place to hold monthly GHS meetings and providing temperature-controlled storage space for the many historical items, papers, and photos GHS has accumulated. GHS can now share Germantown’s history.
    GHS was organized in 2012 when a few people wanted to preserve the history of Germantown, which began in 1833 when Catholic German immigrants started arriving. The organization started with 10 members.
    They began gathering pictures, documents, articles and artifacts regarding Germantown, initially called Hanover. People donated pictures and information about families, school classes, businesses, buildings and events. Requests for family ancestor information started coming, so genealogy research became a service GHS members provided.
    The first major event GHS hosted was Deutschenstadt Tag (Germantown Day) on Oct. 6, 2013. The event was on Munster Street from Main Street to Sycamore Street. It was a big undertaking for the new small organization. Red Schoendienst was the guest speaker, Bobby Eversgerd had antiques, and Pete Linnemann had his miniature Germantown buildings on display. There were buggy rides, games for the kids, souvenirs, and a bake sale/refreshment stand. Germantown ladies provided baked items for the refreshment stand, which was invaluable to the success of the event.
    Over the 14 years, GHS has collected large artifacts, e.g., a wooden drawing table with chair and an oven from the old Germantown Mill, a traveling altar, the original boomkessel from the Boomkessel Band, an early 1900s New Home sewing machine, and hundreds more smaller items. They have provided genealogy information for people from North Carolina to California and from Canada to Mississippi.
    A great GHS supporter, the Germantown Library lets GHS host lectures and meetings at the library, as well as displaying family and class photos, antiques, and pictures/information of Germantown events. Germantown Library also co-hosts the cemetery walks.
    GHS has produced several publications/books. Mary Jansen-Parrent published "Images of America-Germantown," a pictorial book showing Germantown history and people. Germantown families provided photos and information for this book.
    Other publications include the 2015 book "Lest We Forget," honoring Germantown soldiers who served our country, and the 2016 "Heart and Heritage," which focused on people and businesses in Germantown at that time. New Baden News (now known as Clinton County News) had published a historical edition of Germantown on Oct. 11, 1940. The GHS "Heart and Heritage" publication is an updated version that includes the original 1940 edition.
     GHS has hosted a cemetery walk in October at the St. Boniface Cemetery every year since 2022. Family members, when available, and GHS members share stories of individuals buried in the cemetery. This has become a very popular and well-attended event.
    The grand opening on June 28 will include displays of St. Boniface Church, Germantown Mill, Fire Department, Legion and Spassfest. There also will be genealogies and a map of Germany to show where those families came from.
    Germantown Historical Society is very grateful for the continuous support given by the Germantown community and invites everyone to come to their grand opening at 404 Mill Street on Sunday, June 28.