Historical Society Happenings: Getting to Know More About the Beloved Institution
Updated: Feb 27, 2023
The Historical Society of Oliver Springs is a hidden treasure of our town. Built in 1920 as an auto repair center, the building has gone through several names and titles over the years. During World War II, the building served as a movie theater; soon after it was rented out for the Church of Christ. After the Church of Christ found a permanent home, the historical building became a bowling alley, and later back into a repair garage. The building now hosts a team of volunteers who work endlessly to keep our town's history preserved. The historical society is not funded by government grants; it is operated simply on private funds, donations, and the money they get from bake sales and profits from the October Sky Festival. Each year, the society sells a calendar with pictures and information of our historic town to raise money. These calendars can be purchased at Harvey’s Furniture Store or in the Historical Society Building. Most of the work that had been done to restore the building was done by the members of the Society with bits of help from the state prison work crew. The mission of the Historical Society is to preserve the history of Oliver Springs and to get the true story of our town out to the public. They have accomplished this by scanning and saving over 100,000 pictures and documents, and even by making a movie about one of the most notorious murders in Oliver Springs’ history. This film, “The Pine Hill Murders,” is shown during their classic movie nights. Held on the second Saturday of every month at 6:30, the movie night features not only classics but also newer films. As alluded to previously, the building is home to several different historic documents and pictures. You can visit the build and see all the documents for yourself during their hours of operation, which are Tuesday and Friday from 10am to 2pm.
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