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The Caldwell County Historical Society was organized in 1949 and chartered as a non-profit corporation on July 3, 1950. The purpose as stated in the charter is: "…to investigate and study the history of Caldwell County, provide for collecting of information relevant thereto; protect and display archival documents, records, artifacts; mark and preserve historic sites and buildings; own, lease, operate, or sell real or personal property, publish and sell a history or other works of interest to citizens of Caldwell County."
The first president of the group was Mrs. W. I. Pitts. One of the first items of business for the group in 1949 was to find a location for a museum. They were unsuccessful at that time. But they never stopped trying. At various times, a building was selected, but a museum never seemed to materialize. Nancy Alexander, who for many years wrote the local history column for the News-Topic as well as Here Will I Dwell and other material to preserve the history of our county used her newspaper column from time to time to encourage the formation of a museum in her home county.
The dream lay dormant, sometimes for long periods of time. On October 17, 1986, Wylmoth Jenkins, who was president of the historical society at that time, led a group who went before the Caldwell County School Board and asked for the last remaining Davenport College building that was no longer being used. The college has ceased to exist in 1933, and the property had been purchased by the Lenoir City School system, and it had become a part of the Caldwell County Schools with the merger of the Lenoir City School System with the Caldwell County School system in 1974. The school board agreed to lease the building to the building to the historical society for $1.00 per year. Dr. Jack Church, a member of the school board at the time, donated the first $1.00.
In April of 1990, a multi-phased restoration project was inaugurated and executed in five phases with the last phase being completed in 2000. The restoration project was spearheaded by Bill Stronach, Volunteer Museum Director, who supervised the actual work. George Robbins served as his able assistant and did much of the manual work.
The museum opened to the public in 1991. Nancy Alexander, who died in 1990, lived to see the museum taking shape, but many others, like Mrs. Pitts, died before their dream began to be realized. Fortunately Wylmoth Jenkins is still able to be involved in the activities of the Caldwell County Historical Society and the Heritage Museum.
The museum's space is being utilized for a chronological history of Caldwell County from pre-colonial days until the present. There is a time line that shows something of what life was like in our area in the pioneer, Revolutionary, early National Period, the Civil War era, the Reconstruction time until the present. Among the articles are Native American spears and arrow points, early maps, grants, and deeds. There is also have information and pictures on the formation of Caldwell County and the establishment of the town of Lenoir as the county seat. The museum also has several special interest collections: medical, music, military, cameras, and Oriental art.
The purpose of the museum is to preserve the history of Caldwell County for future generations. The museum is located at 112 Vaiden Street, Lenoir, behind the Davenport School. The current hours are from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturday.
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