BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Curator Sam Ashworth of the Middletown Historical Society Canal Museum.
(Dick Swaim photo)
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FMIDDLETOWN -- With a large display of photographs, paintings, artifacts and videos, the Canal Museum has kept alive the history of the old Miami-Erie Canal and Middletown's early years. But to continue to expand its collection, the 16-year-old, two-story museum badly needs more storage space.
"We're always taking in new photographs and small items from people," said museum curator Sam Ashworth. "But if we were to be given something really big, we wouldn't have any room to store it."
Space limitations also prevent the museum from showing temporary exhibits because there is nowhere to store parts of the collection that are on permanent display, he said.
The temporary exhibits could entice more people to make return visits, he said.
"One of the common problems of small museums like this," Mr. Ashworth said, "is that when people come in and look around, they often feel like they've seen everything and there's no need to come back. If we had temporary exhibits from time to time, that could get them to come back and take another look."
Mr. Ashworth has begun looking for buildings in the community that could be used for storage.
"Obviously, we need something that's adequate for storing photographic material," he said.
The museum is at Tytus Avenue and Verity Parkway in Smith Park, along the historic canal's route.
The first spade of dirt for the canal was turned in Middletown in 1825. The canal extended south to Cincinnati and north to Toledo. The advent of the railroad in the mid-19th century greatly diminished the canal's usefulness. The portion of the canal in Middletown was seldom used after a severe flood in 1913 damaged the canal's banks.
In 1929, the feeder stream from the Great Miami to the canal was shut off, and the canal's life in Middletown officially ended. It was filled with dirt and became Verity Parkway.
The museum draws about 30 visitors a week.
"We have a good facility here," Mr. Ashworth said, "but we're out of space."
Middletown's Canal Museum is open 2-4 p.m. on Sundays, April 1 to Oct. 1.
Information: Everett Sherron, the museum's tour director, at 422-4781.
