Marion's Historic Rooms
Marion's Historic Rooms were created in 1976 during the Nation's Bicentennial and
Marion's Sesquicentennial. It was decided to have something lasting rather than just to
have dinners, parades and such. The first tow rooms, facing North Main St., were opened on
February 13 and 
14, following the culmination of hours of
planning and execution by faithful, interested, willing workers of the Historic Rooms and
the Marion Historic Association. these generous folks donated their time and effort so
that we could enjoy what was hoped would be a great addition to the Town of Marion, with
exhibits, displays and reference materials.
Since the opening in the 1970's, one of the display rooms has been converted into a Country Schoolroom and two other rooms have been opened. One is the Country Kitchen and the other, the Heritage Room, which is designed to hold reference materials, scrap books and photo albums.
The Museum is open on designated dates and by calling for an appointment. You can reach me at 926-4436.
Town Historian Carolyn Adriaansen
Remembering The Pantry!
Did you have a pantry at your home? We Did. It was directly off the kitchen and held all kinds of important things. Rows and rows of home canned fruits, vegetables and meats greeted you with the bulk of the family's winter supply being stored in the cool cellar. Crocks of home made butter, and maybe head cheese, would be kept there during the winter when it was cold outside. Pickles, relishes jams and jellies lined the shelves. Cereals, crackers and just about anything at all was stored there.
All baking supplies including a big tin of sugar and a large tilt-out bin held the flour. There was the bread mixer and the bread pan, along with all of the ingredients to turn out crusty, delicious loaves. There was the flour, the lard and all of the rest of the ingredients used for this daily or weekly chore. There were pots and pans, the hand meat grinder and often all of the family dishes as most of the kitchens had no cupboards in the kitchen or dining room Bread mixing and pie making was often accomplished in this room as, in our day, there were no handy shelves in the kitchen, just the table, chairs, sink and cook stove.
Remember the white enamel water pail with the dipper that everyone in the family drank from? Cool water right from the well was someone's job to keep the pail filled. The big, big metal bread box stood in the corner, under the shelf with the pots and pans, marked with a lovely scroll saying, BREAD.
There was a window as the homes had no electricity, so this was necessary. Some pantries were large, some small and rather narrow and scary , for little kids anyway. Some had one screened cupboard where prepared food was placed.
The pantry was next to the dining room so that dishes and foods could be passed through the cupboards from one room to another, thus making it easier to set the table for meals.
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