Looking back: Springfield’s ‘relic room,’ an early home to the city’s priceless history

Nearly 30 years before the founding of the Clark County Historical Society in 1897, Reverend A.H. Bassett gave an address encouraging the creation of a historical collection “which will do credit to our city and county, and be of unending benefit to coming generations.”

Civil War veterans led the efforts to create the Historical Society, wanting not only to preserve their own stories, but to be available for the entire community.

The Society’s first home was in the courthouse before it was given a “relic room” in the Bushnell Building, shown above in 1901.

From there, the Society spent 20 years in the East County Building, then 60 years in Memorial Hall, before moving to the restored and renovated Heritage Center in 2001, where the county’s history continues to be preserved and shared for the “unending benefit to coming generations.”

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