Autrey Mill is fortunate to own a number of artifact collections
- Farm Museum Collection - farming implements used by local farmers
- Tenant House Collection - household items
- Green Store Collection - a mixture of items sold in the store and personal Green family items
- Forsten Collection - Southeastern Indian projectile points
Where have these items come from?
Over the years area residents have generously given the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve Association many items that were used in this area during the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s. These items now furnish the Tenant Farmhouse, are housed in the Farm Museum and in its outdoor display area, and decorate the Summerour House.
The Green Country Store was full to the brim with items sold in the store, all of its ledgers and miscellaneous stuff stored there during its years of operation. A few of these items are displayed in the Green Store, but most are still in storage awaiting attention.
What needs to be done?
- The collections need to be appraised, catalogued, and displayed appropriately. The more important items may need to be stabilized then specially stored or enclosed to prevent further deterioration. We need funding for an expert archivist to evaluate the stored contents found in the Green Store and to set up a cataloguing system.
- We are talking to other small organizations with historic collections to benefit from their experiences.
- We are looking at options to expand our current display area to create a museum space for proper storage and display of our growing collection.
The Forsten Exhibit of Southeastern Indian Artifacts opened on November 12, 2011 during Native American Day. The exhibit contains a selection of artifacts recently donated by the Forsten family.
On October 17, 2011 our nonprofit Autrey Mill Nature Preserve Association was thrilled to receive a donation of Native American artifacts from the Forsten family. The collection contains 288 pieces of Southeastern American Indian projectile points, gorgets, atlatl weights and other artifacts. Part of the large collection will be on permanent display, with other pieces used for educational programming and future research.
Contact us if you can help us catalog and preserve our artifact collections