To the Editor:
There seems to be some confusion by some people who think, and have said that there was a “Tryon Museum”, and that people “took it away.” Nope.
The Polk County Historical Association (PCHA) was chartered in 1977. In all the years since then they have had representatives from all parts of the county on the Board. It has collected items of historical interest from all corners of the county, and for the last many years had monthly programs focused on an aspect of the county, including Tryon.
They have published books about the history of the whole county including a cemetery census, which has information on all the cemeteries in the county. These they have for sale as well as at the local libraries.
For some years the museum was located at the depot building in Tryon, but because of the size of the collection, and a new use for the depot building they relocated to their present location in Columbus. This new location allows for more displays and for the meetings to be held at the museum rather than at Polk campus of ICC.
The Town of Tryon is forming a ‘Tryon Museum’ to be housed in Tryon, and won’t that be a good thing! Preserving heritage is so important at any time. It will provide visitors to Tryon another wonderful place to visit.
I would imagine that both groups, the long established PCHA and the new Tryon Historical Museum will work together to be a credit to our wonderful County of Polk.
– Cathie Campbell, Columbus