RICHMOND — The Richmond Selectboard has decided to move the town archives and artifacts from the town historian’s house to Roberts Hall as a way to open the town history to the community.
Jay Robbins, the town historian, said the immediate need for the move is mainly because he and his wife are selling the property where the archives are currently housed, but said with moving the archives to a community space, residents of Richmond will have the chance to take the history of the town into their own hands.
The move, approved unanimously by the board Wednesday, will take place at the end of March after Robbins measures the new space at Roberts Hall and is expected to open with hours to the public in April. Now, he said, the hall is mainly used as a meeting place for Girl Scouts and for the Richmond Area Food Pantry when it hosts events twice a month.
Robbins said he has seen an increase in the number of people who have come to him searching for more information on either the town’s history, about their home, or on past relatives.
“I’ve had at least 20 new homeowners track me down, wanting to talk to me about their family’s house after they moved in,” Robbins said, adding the town’s historical committee gained a following in early discussions over the move and is “sensing some excitement” from the town on the move.
Robbins has archives on everything from town records to history on certain homes, to a former teacher in Richmond who saved every card she ever got from her students. There are some artifacts to display, but he doesn’t know if they will be shown at Roberts Hall, yet.
An aerial view of Richmond, circa 1930s, is among the archived materials that will be available for easier public viewing at Roberts Hall. Photo courtesy of Jay Robbins
There is talk the archives could later on move to the fire station and serve as a fire and town museum, but for now, at Robbins Hall, the public will be able to visit during hours and be guided according to areas they would like to research.
“We have a couple of hundred banker boxes on racks, labeled, or labeled by family names, if someone wants to research,” he said. “It will be assisted at first, and eventually, things like photographs, we hope to get those scanned in.”
Nothing right now in the collection is digitized, just in boxes preparing for the move, but Robbins hopes it could be a priority in the coming months.
The move also comes right before the town’s bicentennial, which is next year.
At the Selectboard meeting Wednesday, when the move was approved, Town Manager Laurisa Loon expressed her excitement on the timing and to have a space where they can celebrate. Robbins said eventually they would like to host monthly lectures on the town’s history since residents have shown such an interest in it.
Asked why Robbins thinks there has been a peak of interest in the history, he said simply that Richmond has everything and said it “has always been a community.”
“(Richmond) is a town where there are families, a lot of cousins running around, if you need help, someone shows up at your door and you don’t have to ask, people just know,” Robbins said of Richmond. “I think it’s the place, too. There are certain places to me where in my 70 years of being alive, I can sense good energy. Swan Island is one of those places, Richmond village is one too. It just feels right.”
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