The following excerpt is from an article by Matt Dutton posted at the Herald-Whig website Oct. 23, 2018.
PLEASANT HILL, Illinois: The Harman House Museum no longer has to contend with the limited space issues it has faced for the past few years.
The Pleasant Hill museum held a dedication ceremony on Oct. 13 for its new 1,800-square-foot expansion — an almost year-long project completed at the end of August. The project expanded the three floors of the museum to allow for more space for exhibits — like the more than 10,000 local obituaries, many dating back to the 1800s, the museum houses — and to create space for future donations and loans.
“We were getting pretty crowded before,” Harman House Board President Lynn Guthrie said. “This gives us a little more elbow room.”
The Harman House Museum was founded in 1996 when Helen Harman, a teacher from Pleasant Hill and only child, donated her home to the village upon her death. The village maintained ownership of the property until two years ago when the nonprofit Harman House Museum Inc. was incorporated to provide upkeep for the facility.
