Founding Of The McHenry Area Historical Society

 

The idea for The McHenry Area Historical Society came in to being when local residents Pat Schafer and Marya Dixon became concerned that the history of McHenry was being lost as many longtime residents either moved to other areas or passed away, taking with them memories and memorabilia of the past.

As many landmarks in the area were being torn down for new structures, the need to preserve memories and memorabilia from days past became important. Pat Schafer and Marya Dixon began collecting photographs and postcards of the early days of
McHenry.

They met with other long time McHenry residents, Barb Gilpin, Gretchen Thomas and Marie Wilt and on January 1, 2005 the McHenry Area Historical Society was officially founded. Marya was elected the first President, and the others served on the Board of Directors.

Meetings began to be held that year and one of the first presentations was about the Colby Petersen Farm given by Greg Lofgren, our current President.

At a later meeting, Mike Clark of Johnsburg gave a comprehensive slide presentation about the history of McHenry. Many other historical programs have been held over the past 17 years.

We are thankful to that early group, especially to Marya and Pat for their hard work in organizing the MAHS and continuing to support it and help it grow.