Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Bullitt County History Museum

With all the progress and growth you find in Bullitt County, there’s still a place that transports you back through the county’s history. From salt licks to inter-state growth, the Bullitt County History Museum tracks the county and the milestones it has marked. And later this month, it’ll mark a milestone of its own.

An offshoot of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society, the physical museum came to be in 2004 when, during construction and renovation efforts of the old courthouse, the front façade and two downstairs rooms were left intact, to be used for a museum dedicated to showcasing the county’s history. Now, 20 years later, Executive Director Sheri Hatter says she’s thrilled to see what the museum has become.

“I’m amazed,” she says. “Since the two rooms downstairs, we now have four new cases out in the hall, [and] the three cases on the right-side downstairs [in addition to two upstairs rooms].

Preserving the past While the museum does showcase and display the history of the county, it is also heavily involved in preservation. As the museum’s executive director for the past two years, Hatter has worked to emphasize a digital approach to documenting the county’s history, working with volunteers to scan and digitally preserve family records, photographs and other important items.

“You’ve got to protect yourself from fire, floods, tornados,” she explains, noting that physical items can always be lost or damaged.

The museum’s efforts to modernize its history and records is a kind of outreach to younger generations who may not have the time to sit down and search through physical documents and records.

“If you come in and you’re looking for family [information] and don’t have time to stick around, for a $5 donation, I can put all of that on a thumb drive and you can take it home with you,” she says.

But there’s an important catch to this tech-savvy approach.

“You have to be interested in history,” Hatter explains. “It’s can be hard to engage people if you’re not into history.”

And that is exactly what the muse-um’s upcoming 20th anniversary event aims to do: engage.

On October 19, the museum will open its doors for a public celebration of its anniversary, complete with food trucks, a scavenger hunt with prizes and a silent auction to help raise money for the museum, which mostly relies on donations and dedicated volunteers. And with new community developments in the works for down-town Shepherdsville, Hatter believes it can lead to more public engagement at the museum.

“There are a lot of changes about to take place in Bullitt County,” she says. “And I think with the changes and bringing businesses downtown, it’s going to open our doors [to more people]. We opened our doors this past Christmas [for Light Up Shepherdsville], and it brought a lot of people in that were waiting for the parade.”

Interested in learning more about the Bullitt County History Museum and their upcoming event? Visit the Facebook page for more information