BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LAWRENCEBURG -- The Dearborn County Historical Society is moving into its dream house.
Thanks to the Lawrenceburg City Council, which bought the $186,000 Vance-Tousey House with riverboat gambling revenue and gave it to the group this month, society members moved from two cramped rooms at the Dearborn County Courthouse into quarters a historian could love.
They toted piles of papers, drawers full of documents and archives galore to the sprawling, three-wing Federal-style home built in 1818 by Lawrenceburg founder Samuel C. Vance.
They climbed a three-story spiral staircase past walled-in mantles and into wings of servants' quarters with low ceilings. They sifted through charred bits of plaster and stone in the huge brick fireplace of the basement kitchen, cut off from the central chimney years ago.
Modernity must go
With a disdainful eye, they surveyed modern wood paneling, sprinkler pipes and walls dividing the home's grand rooms into smaller offices and large public restrooms. Eventually, such things will have to go.
But for now, the society is pleased as punch with its new home. "To say that we were blown away is an understatement," said museum committee chair and Lawrenceburg resident Elizabeth Cook. The society had tried unsuccessfully to raise $50,000 for a down payment on the Vance-Tousey House and were about to give up, when they learned that Lawrenceburg would buy it for them.
"It was like manna from heaven. It's as though we looked up and said we have this great need and something needs to be done, and "Boom!' someone comes forward and it happens," Ms. Cook said.
In return, the society is planning grand things for the community. Already, it provides materials and know-how for genealogical research and local history projects.
But the historic items, documents and photos that were once displayed in small, themed monthly shows will be laid out and exhibited year-round in rooms large enough to accommodate a crowd.
"We hope a lot of people will come through and visit us," said President Frances Egner of Yorkville. She hopes the museum will add to Dearborn County's sense of community.
"It's important to know where you came from to know where you're going to go. And if you know the history of where you live, it's more interesting and you care about it more," she said.
Tourist attraction
Lawrenceburg Mayor Melvin Gabbard says the museum could also become a tourist attraction. The entire city council supported buying and donating the building, which had been vacant for a couple of years and was last used as office space by nearby Joseph E. Seagram & Sons Inc.
"Council just got their heads together because we thought it was the most historical building in Lawrenceburg, and it deserved to be preserved," he said.
Research first
County Historian Chris McHenry said the society is planning to apply for federal planning grants and expertise. They want to research the original condition of the home and the engineering involved with restoring it, before they start moving walls.
It's got to be done right," she said. "It would be terrible to come in and unknowingly destroy something."
The first sign of the restoration won't have to wait, though. The dismantled wooden bannister of the central spiral staircase, which has been walled in, lies in the attic. Society members plan to open up the three-story stairway and return it to its original look.
