Richland’s new historical society seeks members interested in preserving the past

For the better part of a year, a group of Richland Township residents have been working to revive Richland Township’s historical society.

Now it’s time for the fun to begin for people interested in making sure the history, artifacts and documents chronicling the 233-year-old municipality don’t get lost to time.

“There’s still a lot of legal work to do that we are getting help with from a professional, but we’ve rewritten the bylaws and feel like it’s time to begin finding people who are interested in working on projects,” said Cono Passione, who helped organize the effort to reconstitute the historical society.

The new historical society also has received professional advice on the proper ways to curate and preserve the historical documents and other artifacts that have been collected over the years.

Passione got involved with reviving the historical society last year after spending much of the summer clearing debris from the abandoned Baker Estate Cemetery in the township’s Bakerstown section.

Pitt researches looking for clues about the original burial sites for the smattering of gravestones scattered at the hidden cemetery halted their investigation in November when questions about the property’s ownership arose.

Acquiring the cemetery where a number of the township’s pioneer residents are buried is a long-term goal for the society, along with finding a permanent site to conduct meetings, do preservation work and eventually create displays for public view.

Passione is matter-of-fact about the difficulties of reaching those long-term goals.

“Getting a permanent site would be fantastic but that takes money and we don’t have any,” he said. “Fundraising is still an important area we need to address.”

Several thousand of photos, maps, books and other documents from Richland’s past are in the possession of Richland Township woman whose late husband served a longtime member of the township’s original historical society.

Passione said moving the contents of the file cabinets and boxes from the woman’s basement to the Northern Tier Library in Richland remains an option until the fledgling organization has its own site.

Because the historical society was inactive for a number of years, the organization likely will have to reestablish its status as a nonprofit before seeking historical preservation grants and technical assistance from foundations and government agencies.

But those things don’t have to happen before people who are passionate about preserving history can get involved, Passione said.

“We’ve still got a lot of organizational work to do, but we’d like to move forward,” Passione said. “We’re at the point where there’s some projects we can begin working on.”

Volunteer writers have begun composing stories about the township’s history, Passione said, and volunteers are needed to begin sorting through the collection.

Programming is in the works with a presentation planned at the library in early October about the history of the Pine Richland Youth Foundation, Bakerstown Presbyterian Church and the old Baker Estates Cemetery.

“We had a table set up at Community Day to starts spreading the word and connected with some people who were interested in joining,” Passione said. “I encourage more people to get involved. I think there’s something exciting about being part of something new as it grows.”

For more information, contact Passione by email at cipsarop@gmail.com or call him at 724-816-3157.