Leechburg museum to unveil newly renovated Military Room on Memorial Day

Improvements to the Leechburg Area Museum and Historical Society’s Military Room are expected to be completed by the time the museum reopens in late May.

“It’s still got a little bit of a ways to go, but it will be ready I think when we open on Memorial Day,” society President Larry Boehm said.

The Military Room is one of the society’s 19 themed rooms inside the historic David Leech house on Leechburg’s First Street.

It includes relics and memorabilia that belonged to residents of Leechburg, West Leechburg and Gilpin that served in World War I, World War II, the Civil War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

One of those residents was a nurse named Mildred L. Sullivan. She served during World War II and received a Victory Medal for her efforts. Her uniform is displayed at the museum.

Also on display is a uniform that belonged to William Thompson, a Leechburg native who served in the military and went on an expedition to the South Pole.

“We keep the displays local, that’s the goal of the museum,” Boehm said. “Everything that we have has a local connection.”

Other artifacts include military hats, helmets, weapons, pictures, binoculars and glasses. There’s even a military voting machine from the 1932 election.

“These gentlemen could have voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt or Herbert Hoover at the time,” Boehm said. “That’s kind of neat.”

There’s also a collection of short snorters, which is money signed by people traveling together.

“It’s basically just money from various ports that they might have been to,” Boehm said. “It was kind of their running tally of where they had been.”

The museum also updated its police and fire department display. That includes uniforms, hats, patches and photographs of previous firefighters and policemen in the area.

“It’s just a little section in the hallway,” Boehm said.

Boehm said the Military Room needed to be upgraded for a number of reasons, mainly because it lacked organization. Items weren’t grouped together based on their conflict or era. Now they are.

Volunteers also replaced old carpeting with hardwood floors and added solar blinds so the relics won’t get sun-damaged.

Board member Karen Freilino said the room is much more aesthetically appealing.

“I think people that come to see everything will really be impressed with it,” she said.

The renovations cost about $3,000, all of which was covered by donations. The historical society has about 150 members who pay a $15 annual membership fee. Additional money is raised through gifts or fundraisers.

The museum is located in a decades-old duplex that was built in 1830 by the borough’s founder, David L. Leech, and given as a wedding gift to his son, David F. Leech, in 1849.

The Military Room is the latest renovation the museum has completed in the past four years.

“It’s been a room-by-room project,” Boehm said.

Boehm said the museum is still working on labeling relics and adding information to the displays.

“We need more information on the wall for people to read as they come through so they can kind of better understand what they’re looking at,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have some of that in place by the time we open.”