OUR EXHIBITS
The Laurens County Museum has re-designed and our exhibits have been moved from our first location at 205 West Laurens Street to our new location across the street from the Historic Courthouse - 116 South Public Square, Laurens, SC. See below for details on the various exhibits.
The new location opened January 2, 2022 and features three Exhibit Halls:
- The First Nations Hall (Native American) - The Tony Harper Exhibit Hall - The Visiting Exhibit Hall.
The museum is designed around six themes and the new design will provide considerable flexibility moving forward. Most exhibits are moveable displays and will change over time.
First Nations Exhibit Hall:
This room is dedicated to the people who lived in our area for thousands of years prior to European settlement. The Laurens County Museum owns several extensive Native American collections that are on display. Additionally, there will be information regarding archaeological excavations and a re-creation of the Cherokee living environment.
The Tony Harper Exhibit Hall:
This hall features the following exhibits:
- Worship in Laurens County - Dedicated to the role of spirituality and religion within Laurens County.
- Learning in Laurens County - Traces the rich history of education within Laurens County.
- Serving in Laurens County - Dedicated to both military and police services within Laurens County.
- Working in Laurens County - Pays tribute to agriculture and industry within Laurens County.
- Witherspoon Bedroom - The new Museum location developed from a 2012 donation of an 1850's bedroom set from Mr. Witherspoon.
The former location on Laurens Street was way too small for displaying the furniture. After holding several meetings with Mr. Witherspoon, and wishing to honor his request that the furniture be prominently displayed, his solution was to find a new building. The furniture is proudly displayed and is the first exhibit you see when you enter the Tony Harper Exhibit Hall.
The Visiting Exhibit Hall
This exhibit hall features rotating traveling exhibits. We are very honored and excited that the first exhibit that will occupy this space is the Smithsonian Institution's Voices and Votes: Democracy in America. It will be in our visiting exhibit room From June 4-July 16, 2022. You can read more about this exhibit below.
Curriculum Kits for teaching:
Teaching curriculum will be developed for each of these themes and made available to schools and other organizations interested in “digging deeper” into the prehistory and history of Laurens County.
Our first curriculum kit was completed this summer. The lesson “Becoming a Historian” was made in collaboration with the Joe Adair Center for use in their summer program. The kit included artifacts, lesson plans, and worksheets. There will be many more curriculum kits developed over the next two years. To find out more about these kits and how to order, email us.
OUR
COLLECTIONS
The Laurens County Museum is home to several interesting collections. Among them are three display collections and one research collections of Native American Artifacts. Additionally, the museum has 30 historic quilts and 118 glass paperweights in its collection. We have a sizable collection from Laurens Glass Works, a military collection, a Rococo Revival bedroom suite donated by Mr. Witherspoon’s family, and more.
OUR RESEARCH
Genealogy
The Laurens County Museum is home to the Laurens County Genealogy Society that meets regularly in our Magnolia Room. See the site calendar for specific events and meetings. For more information, their website can be accessed by clicking here.
Archaeological Research Lab
The Laurens County Museum is an extremely unusual museum. We are home to a large archaeological research collection obtained from several prehistoric and two historic archaeological sites located in the Upstate. It is unusual for a museum of any kind to have an archaeology lab and research collections of this caliber are usually housed at universities or government agencies.
One of the sites in the collection is the only site in the state of South Carolina that is owned by the Archaeological Conservancy. The conservancy was founded in 1980 with the express purpose of purchasing important and endangered archaeological sites and holding them in perpetuity for future generations. The research collection was turned over to the Laurens County Museum by The Piedmont Archaeological Studies Trust (P.A.S.T.). These materials will be made available for research purposes. It is our hope that the lab will become a training ground for students and volunteers interested in learning about archaeological lab and field work. The lab will be fully opened next summer.
OUR WORK
OUR
LIBRARY
The library is now set up at the 116 South Public Square location. We do not allow our books to be checked out, but welcome you to come in and review them during the hours of operations. The Museum does have an array of books that can be purchased.
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