City of Effingham Donates Historical Photos to Effingham County Cultural Center and Museum Association

(LEFT TO RIGHT: FORMER MAYOR BOB UTZ, DELAINE DONALDSON, JANE RIES, JERRY KATZ, LoELLA BAKER, ALLEN WESTENDORF, CITY TOURISM DIRECTOR JODI THOELE, CITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR TODD HULL, AND MAYOR JEFF BLOEMKER)

The City of Effingham recently donated dozens of historical pictures to the Effingham County Cultural Center and Museum.

 "The Museum is extremely grateful for the historic pictures presented by the City of Effingham. The diversity of the themes is so great that these framed pictures can be used in a variety of exhibits," stated Delaine Donaldson. "For instance, there are pictures of schools, of railroad bridge construction, of water towers, churches, and transportation....Each one helps to tell the story of the area so that visitors can be made aware of the rich heritage which belongs to all residents."

At one time these pictures graced the hallways at City Hall but it was decided the museum group would be a better curator. “I love looking at these photos. They have been digitized and are now shown continuously on a monitor at City Hall. Once I start watching the series I have a tough time breaking away,” said Mayor Jeff Bloemker.

Past Effingham Mayor Bob Utz spearheaded the mission years ago to accumulate these precious photographs and was on hand to make the presentation to the museum.

"I really enjoyed collecting all of these photos," stated Bob Utz." I owe a great deal of credit to a law enforcement officer from Casey who helped me copy all of the photos and place them into frames."