Although preserving the past is an integral part of its operations, the Mount Joy Area Historical Society is also looking to the future. With that in mind, the organization launched a capital campaign to expand its footprint at 120 Fairview St., Mount Joy; renovate its current space; and build an endowment.

"Our process began in April of 2023, when our president Sue Hostetter asked the question, 'What is our strategic plan?'" recalled vice president Linda Eberly. "From that question, the board embarked on creating one, and, from that planning, we developed our mission statement: To seek, preserve and make available the history of the Mount Joy area."

The group's discussions evolved into four objectives for the historical society - awareness, fundraising, membership and depth/quality of the museum.

"Through this in-depth look, we recognized that we were running out of display space, had only a shed for storage and were at capacity with our research area," Eberly said. "Plus, we were - and still are - archiving on a 6-foot folding table in our meeting room."

About this time, two donors stepped up to pledge a total of $150,000 in matching funds, giving the society the boost it needed to make its vision a reality.

The capital campaign committee, co-chaired by Eberly and Dave Reist, set a total fundraising goal of $425,000. That figure includes money for a new building that will adjoin the existing museum space, renovations such as removing carpeting from the museum, funds for furnishings for both the new and current buildings and $100,000 for an endowment to be used for future operations.

In March 2025, the organization launched phase one of its capital campaign, called "Building a Legacy: Preserving the Past for Future Generations," and began targeting private donors. By September, it had pledges that equaled the matching funds, so the campaign went public.

"With the help of a $15,000 High Foundation grant, we raised the full $425,000 by this past April, a little over a year after we started," Eberly said. "There were so many times I just had to shake my head and cry at the generosity of so many people."

To celebrate reaching its goal, the society held a groundbreaking ceremony in June, inviting the 90 donors to the festivities.

While many groundbreaking events employ a shiny new shovel to dig in the dirt, Eberly brought her grandfather's well-used tool instead.

"I thought it was appropriate to use that, keeping with the idea of history," she said.

The group plans to hold a public event to welcome visitors to the new space, tentatively in the spring of 2027.

The new building will feature three floors.

"The basement is going to house storage of donated items that we'll rotate in and out of our displays, and we'll probably have our archiving table down there, too," Eberly said. "The first floor is going to be our research area and our office area, and the third floor will be purely storage, not accessible to the public."

In renovating the current space, the group plans to pay tribute to the African Methodist Episcopal Church that originally used the site.

"We want to bring the space back to what it was like," Eberly said, noting that an archway where the original altar stood will lead visitors into the new building.

As they progress through the project, the society members plan to judiciously decide what to keep and what to toss, and they also plan to update the museum's displays.

"We want to make it more interactive, with displays that really engage the public," Eberly said. "We want this to become an interactive museum."

The museum is open Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m., and it also hosts a speaker series once a month from March through November. On Monday, July 20, Abby Teaford will present "Native American Peoples of the Susquehanna" at 7 p.m.

"It's important to preserve what we have, and to archive what's happening today so that people 50 years from now will know what happened," Eberly said. "We're archiving our current businesses, our current events in town, so when future generations want to learn about the past, it will be here. The past is who we are."

For more information on the Mount Joy Area Historical Society, visit http://www.mountjoyhistory.com.