New Marquette Historical working to preserve community’s history
A new Marquette Historical Society is working to preserve the community’s history through the Marquette Depot Museum and Information Center. The inaugural committee includes (left to right) Cindy Halvorson, Terry Sharp, Bona Dean Feller, Eleanor Soulli, Laurie Mason, Deidre Vick-Froehlich, Pat Young, Dennis Mason and Paul Young. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
By Audrey Posten
A new Marquette Historical Society is working to preserve the community’s history through the Marquette Depot Museum and Information Center.
The inaugural committee began meeting in April, at the encouragement of the city, to set up a system similar to the board of the Driftless Area Wetlands Centre, another city-owned property.
Efforts so far have largely included working on bylaws and getting organized, as well as applying for 501(c)(3), said member Pat Young.
“There was nothing official with the museum,” explained Paul Young. “There were some records of what’s here, but not a lot. There are a lot of undocumented artifacts. It’s kind of like the town’s back closet, where somebody brings something old in and we stick it on display.”
Marquette’s Depot Museum and Information Center opened in 2000. Originally an Old Milwaukee Road freight depot, the building was moved to Marquette from Blue River, Wis., in the late 1990s, then renovated under the direction of the Marquette Action Club. It features a plethora of railroad artifacts from the Milwaukee Road, Sooline Railroad, I&M Rail Link and Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad, as well as plenty of other Marquette photos and memorabilia.
The facility completed an expansion project in 2019. At that time, recalled member Cindy Halvorson, “there was so much of everything.” She and father Terry Sharp went through it all, asking “Where does this go, what does this pertain to?”
But there’s still more that can be done, said the group.
“This is the site where the passenger depot was,” said member Dennis Mason. “There’s so much that’s been lost. We want to continue to preserve that history, with a strong emphasis on the Milwaukee Road.”
Paul Young said what is now Marquette was established as a rail head in 1857. It was incorporated as North McGregor in 1874, but changed its name in 1920. The railroad has been an integral part of the community ever since.
“At its peak, Marquette was over 900 citizens. Over 500 of them worked for the railroad, and most of the other businesses—the hotels, boarding houses, all that stuff—supported the railroad. It was a railroad town,” he said. “We’ve got four generations that worked.”
Young doesn’t believe most people—in or outside Marquette—understand its historical significance.
“It was the first railroad crossing on the Upper Mississippi. It opened up Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota to rail traffic. It was the largest rail yard west of Chicago for a short period of time,” he said. “The pontoon bridge was the first one and also the longest one in the world.”
Through the Marquette Historical Society, the group envisions sharing that history with others: former railroad employees, current and former Marquette residents and area students.
Paul Young subbed at MFL MarMac for several years and recalled asking the students what they knew about their hometowns. It was very little.
“They didn’t have a clue about Monona, McGregor, Marquette,” he said. “I would like to get together with the McGregor and Monona historical societies to start something with the schools to give talks at the school, give tours or get them involved in research. The unfortunate part is we’ve missed out on a lot of oral history because most everybody who worked for the railroad—the old timers—is gone.”
Mason would like to see the Depot resurrect Railroad Days, an annual event held last in 2019 when the new addition opened.
Another goal, noted Pat Young, is to “dig up more history.”
“There’s a lot of old railroad memorabilia, pictures, artifacts stuck away that people don’t know what to do with. A lot of that stuff, if it’s focused on the railroad in Marquette, if they want to bring it in, we can look at it and see if it’s something we can utilize here,” he said.
The Marquette Historical Society recently launched its first membership drive. An annual fee of $25 allows members to receive periodic newsletters, attend and vote at annual meetings and participate on committees and attend special functions.
The group said funds will go toward operating the Marquette Depot Museum and Information Center, as well as adding potential artifacts and tackling projects.
“Some of us have big plans for things we could do with outdoor displays.” For example, said Paul Young, “The caboose needs to be repainted and fixed up. There’s a lot more that can be done to expand the museum and improve the exhibits.”
Pat Young hopes people will use this opportunity to connect to their hometown. Others are welcome to get involved if they have time and talents to contribute.
“We definitely need more people as board members and members to keep things running. We could use more people working as docents in the museum, telling people about the exhibits, manning the counter,” added Paul Young. “We couldn’t handle it all by ourselves.”
If you would like to learn more, get involved or donate, contact the Marquette Historical Society at P.O. Box 274, 216 Edgar St., Marquette, IA 52158. The Depot phone number is (563) 873-1200 and email address is marquettedepotmuseum@alpinecom.net. You can also follow the museum on Facebook.
