Planning for the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence launched many local historic preservation initiatives. As a result of both the excitement and the opportunities afforded by this commemoration, many public history institutions and initiatives were founded in the mid-1970s.

Locally, the Lebanon Township Committee appointed its own historical committee whose first goal was to save the township's former one-room schoolhouses. The New Hampton schoolhouse, after being in use for over a century, had been shuttered and neglected for many years.

The Historian Committee's first chairperson, Louise Sliker, said the New Hampton schoolhouse was "empty with a hole in the roof and water washing down, kids climbing through the windows and trying to start a fire." A plan was made to preserve the building and reopen it as a museum; a dream that was realized in 1982 with the first curator Dorothea Connolly at the helm.

Since that time, the Lebanon Township Museum has been not only a site for housing and displaying historical artifacts but also a vital part of the community: a place for gathering, sharing talents and learning together.

SCHOOLHOUSE TO MUSEUM

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