WENDELL – The Wendell Historical Society now officially owns the former depot store and post office and is ready to turn the space into a museum showcasing the town’s history. 

“So many people made it happen,” said Edward Hines, president of the Wendell Historical Society. “Everyone wanted it to happen, we just had to figure out a way to make it work.”

The society closed the sale of the building with Kristina Hartjens, executor of the late Anna “Anny” Hartjens’ estate and newest member of the Historical Society Board, on Wednesday July 12,  after negotiating the price down from $65,000 for the organization to be able to purchase it, using funds raised through donations. The group’s fundraising efforts attracted about 100 donors, three-fourths of which were Wendell residents. 

Now, they are ready for the next phase of the project—spending the next year applying for grants, fundraising and renovating the space to eventually open it as a historical society for research and visitors. 

“We want teenagers to come and figure out what their roots are. We want elementary school kids to learn how to do basic research here,” Hines said. 

The first floor contains the old showroom, lunch counter and post office and could be converted into a museum with permanent and temporary displays. Hines explained that the board of seven members has their work cut out for them, doing research on grant writing for the new space. They are hoping to receive rural revitalization grants to turn the old building into a functioning museum. 

The project materialized quickly over the last few months. The Wendell Historical Society was created on March 1 and received its 501(c)3 designation within six days of the application, thanks to U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern speeding up the process.

Board member Pam Richardson explained that the society thinks it is important to have a physical space to use as a repository. She explained that people feel uncomfortable donating their artifacts because it is unclear where they will go. Currently, local artifacts are scattered in people’s homes and in an extremely full closet in the library. 

“We want it to be a place people can access,” Richardson said. “Now there will be a central repository; this place will bring it all together.”

Since the late 1970s, board member Joseph Coll explained, that there have been four iterations of historical societies. The first was created in 1978 for the Wendell Bicentennial. They hoped during that time to find a place for town artifacts, but the attempt and several subsequent tries never created a physical space—until now. Now the group is looking for monthly contributors to keep the space afloat or single donations to help with the rehabilitation effort.

“When people drive through here they look around and don't see much; When I look around I have a ‘Field of Dreams’ experience,” Hines said. “We are trying to bring this place back one project at a time.”

Tax-deductible donations can be sent to: the Wendell Historical Society, P.O. Box 941, Wendell MA 01379. There is also a PayPal link on the Historical Society’s website, wendellhistoricalsociety.org.

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com

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