Historic 1920s High Springs on display

Jim Dyksterhouse and Rodger Chambers show off the model of the town in the 1920s, complete with a working train.

HIGH SPRINGS – The sound of a train whistle and wheels running on metal tracks can be heard as visitors enter the main display room of the museum.

The High Springs Historical Society’s (HSHS) Railroad Museum, located in the Historic High Springs Elementary School and Community Center, hosts a small diorama of High Springs, showing visitors what the town looked like in the 1920s, complete with a running train.

The first section of the 6-feet-by-7-feet model was built by Jim Dyksterhouse, vice president of the HSHS. It took him three months to build.

“We wanted the children to see what the town looked like in the past and how it has changed,” said teacher Sara Kirk, who visited the museum with her students. “Many of them had never seen an electric train before.”

“They were enthralled with the trains,” she said.

Representatives from several private and public schools in the area are talking with HSHS members about bringing their kids in to see the historic diorama, displays and trains.

The excitement of the schoolchildren was one of the most fulfilling parts of the visit, said Bob Watson, president of the HSHS.

“The smiles on 93 kindergarten faces was worth everything we had done,” he said. “We enjoyed their visit as much as they did.”

As the children looked at the model of High Springs, they could see glimpses of history, including a hospital, which existed between 1896 and 1902. The hospital was eventually closed because only 18 patients were seen during those six years.

In addition to the diorama of the past, the room also contained items from the city’s old 1924 LaFrance Fire Truck, still housed at the fire station to this day. Hoses from 1913, a ladder, a mask and several tools were on display.

Rodger Chambers, HSHS secretary and retired construction engineer, curated the fire display and elements of George’s General Store, originally located on 9th Street.

“It was where all the activity was back in those days,” Watson said. Visitors and area residents supplied many of the items in the recreated store.

“We’re always looking for more,” Chambers said.

The group has used the remaining walls to display photos of the city’s history.

“It’s interesting to see how the town has changed,” he said.

In the first four days of November, around 60 visitors stopped by to see the displays, Watson said.

“I think the diorama of the train yard and first section of the city has really excited people,” he said.

In another room of the museum, known as the Youth Center Room, there are three running models of trains on two separate boards. One of them is the Polar Express, complete with an engine, a coal car and three passenger cars. It travels just past models of internally-lit homes and buildings.

“It looks really amazing at night,” Watson said.

By Christmas, there should be a lot more trains running in the museum, along with interesting buildings, he said. For example, there might be a model of an old McDonald’s restaurant. Visitors might hear a voice ordering lunch, and see a model car drive around the old-looking, but still familiar building to pick up the order.

“Our people are looking for more of that type of stuff at an upcoming show to bring the scenes in this room to life,” Watson said.

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