(Chelsea Update would like to thank Shawn Personke for the information in this story.)
The Chelsea Area Historical Society and Museum (CAHS) is partnering with the Chelsea District Library for a program designed to help homeowners discover the stories of their homes.
“Become a House History Sleuth” will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m. in the library’s McKune Room.
“We get so many people asking for the histories of their homes,” said Jan Bernath, president of the CAHS, “and unfortunately, we just don’t have the volunteers that could do this type of research. And that’s how we came up with this idea: We should show people how they can do their own sleuthing.”
She said that people should know the process can be long, but it is a labor of love and can be so satisfying.
Become a Home History Sleuth
Tuesday, Sept. 27, 6 p.m.
Chelsea District Library
Registration required at chelseadistrictlibrary.org
Co-presenter Shawn Personke, communications chair for the museum, agrees.
After several years of fits and starts, Personke found most of the answers she was looking for… and many surprises.
“It was a lot of work, but so worth it,” she said.
“We discovered our home built around 1911 by the Kantlehner family. We found that the oldest living Civil War veteran died in our home. And that the owners of the Grove dime store lived there for 30 years,” Personke said.
“Perhaps more fun, though, was trolling through the old Chelsea newspapers where I found out that ‘our neighbor’ Mr. Staffan added a bathroom to his Main Street home in 1913. And our other 1913 neighbor, Mr. Richards ‘had a cement floor poured for his carriage house.’”
At this workshop, Personke, Bernath, and the Chelsea District LIbrary’s Gabrielle Hopkins will share tips and resources for uncovering details such as prior owners, when a home was sold, aerial views of property throughout the years, anecdotal stories of a neighborhood, and telephone numbers for prior residents.
Registration for “Become a Home History Sleuth” is through the library’s website, www.chelseadistrictlibrary.org or by visiting the library.
