The renovation and restoration of The Sabine Parish Historic Depot Museum in Many is finally complete, and The Town of Many, The Cultural District Committee, along with the Sabine Historical Society, are now seeking items to exhibit in the museum.
Many Mayor Ken Freeman said the first stage of renovating the depot began in 2016 with a new roof. The second stage started in November 2018. "Now that's all done, and we can move on to making it a museum," the mayor said.
"We are especially interested in things from the period when Sabine Parish was part of No Man's Land,” Mary Brocato, alderman at large and chairperson of the Cultural District Advisory Committee said. "No Man's Land or the Neutral Strip existed in Sabine Parish during the years from 1805 until around 1821. We hope that descendants of families that lived here during that time period may have items stored in their homes that may date back to the 1800s, and we would love to see those items and perhaps display them in our museum."
Mayor Freeman asked that people who have something that may be of interest to call Sandra Neel, the mayor's executive assistant, at 318-256-3651. "Sandra will set up a time frame for you to bring those items by the office or arrange for someone to go out to see the items. We have both donation and loan forms if you want to share these items in the No Man's Land portion of the museum," said Freeman.
Freeman continued, “We're very pleased that we were able to save the historic depot, and now we are going to "build a museum" that will be an exciting addition to our town's cultural district."
Brocato, who has spearheaded the renovation and restoration of the old building, said she is working closely with Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser to obtain some interesting artifacts from the Louisiana State Museum. She has also visited with Becky Stoker Kyle, who has a number of historic items to lend the museum. Mrs. Kyle shared that her grandfather shot and killed the notorious outlaw John Wesley Hardin.
Gayle Fisher generously donated five church pews which date back to the mid 1800s and came from an old church on property she owns deep in the Kisatchie Forest. They will be used for seating in the exhibit rooms. Other families who have donated historic items include the Georg Boyens family.
Brocato and Mayor Freeman are now brokering a partnership agreement with Northwestern State University to provide assistance with the creation of the museum itself.
Brocato said, “The depot is just beautiful after our renovation efforts, and now we're moving on to the exciting part: finding interesting, historical things to go on exhibit."
"I hope that people will call the mayor's office and speak with Mrs. Neel about any items that they think may be of interest,” concluded Mayor Freeman. "I have a feeling that we're going to have some really neat discoveries."