Wakulla County Historical Society Vice President Betty Green is outgoing and gregarious so when she decided to put her efforts into creating a Wakulla County museum the only obstacle was money.

Thanks to the efforts of Green, Historical Society President Cathy Frank, Museum Director Mary Sampson and other volunteers, the first phase of the museum effort has become a reality.

The bottom floor of the museum has opened to visitors and an open house was held for the public in late 2009.

The museum building itself has an interesting history as a former county jail, emergency medical services building and county offices.

But after a complete renovation, signs of the county offices are gone and museum pieces have taken their place.

“There was a big sense of excitement coming together and getting the building open,” said Cathy Frank, a native of Wakulla County and the Gray family.

The dream and vision for the museum and archives began in 1999 when Pete Gerrell, Mays Leory Gray and Green were meeting in the old wooden courthouse across the street.

The idea light bulb came on when Green looked out the window and realized that the facility would be perfect as a museum.

“Everybody was so excited to see it happen,” said Frank, who added that the second floor of the building will also be part of the museum, but a new grant will have to be acquired.

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The next grant must be acquired to provide an elevator to meet handicap access requirements for the second floor.

The first floor has a gift shop, geneology suite with computers for research with historical books, a kitchen and two display rooms featuring historical artifacts of the late Pete Gerrell and a tribute to former Judge R. Don McLeod and his daughter Martha Norris McLeod.

The county had planned to demolish the old jail when Green and her supporters saved the building.

“We fought for this building,” she said. “We saw the beauty of the building, an art deco style built in 1947. I like to tell the world about us. It’s about family and home folks and we don’t want it forgotten. There are a lot of good memories.”

Green was born in Crestview but moved to Wakulla County, the original home of her father, when she was a teenager. His work took him around the state.

Green grabbed hold of Wakulla County and has been saving historical memories ever since.

She has agreed to several interviews over the years and always has new historical anecdotes to share. On this visit Green related a story of the old jail, the facility that was replaced by the 1947 jail, that was demolished after being condemned by the state.

The Jimmie Dykes family paid $25 for the old bricks and built their home with them, she said.

“We will be changing the displays,” said Sampson. “We want things to stay fresh.”

Many of the Gerrell room artifacts were discovered on the Gerrell property. Pete’s wife, Terri, has been instrumental in keeping Pete’s historical dream alive. “Pete was a thorough historian,” said Green.

Green knew Martha McLeod personally and has saved some of her own personal artifacts of her. She died in 1999 at age 99 and Green has a large picture of McLeod displayed from her 94th birthday party.

R. Don McLeod was judge for 28 years and is honored with artifacts all around the room including some of Martha’s dresses.

The historical society had plans for a Heritage Village where 13 donated historical homes were to be placed. Part of the Lawhon Mill Road property would have been used for an equestrian facility and wildlife rehabilitation area.

But the plans fell through when it was determined that the county donated land was actually too wet for the project.

Historical society members are still hoping someone will donate some property to preserve the old homes for future generations.

The second floor of the museum will eventually allow the facility to expand into the area that actually housed the inmates and later was home to the Wakulla EMS unit. It will give the museum additional square footage.

Sampson added that the society hopes to create a “mock up” of one of the cells with a cot to remember the days when inmates slept upstairs and ate meals on the bottom floor.

Sampson added that Madeleine Carr helped the society by writing grants, but grant funding has dried up as the state budgets have become lean.

“We want to keep the integrity of the building,” said Sampson. At the present time the second floor is still open space.

The 1947 jail facility became home to jailer R.E. Whaley and his wife Geraldine in the 1950s. Geraldine served as the dispatcher, cook, laundry person and leader of religious services. The Whaleys served until the late 1960s and the jail closed in 1972, Green stated.

Sampson is painting a tree on the wall of the museum that highlights the names of the “roots” or residents from 1843 and before. The top of the tree contains branches of “newcomers” who arrived in the county in 1850 or later.

“Wakulla County has had an impact at the state level with R.A. Gray and the Crawfords,” said Green. “It has been remarkable.”

The museum is open on Thursdays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., but the society hopes to open for additional hours in the future. But more volunteers are needed to fill additional hours.

The society recently created a Heritage Book that quickly sold out. A second printing of the book is planned with a different publisher, said Green.

“A lot of oldtimers have so much in their heads,” said Green of historical memories. One of her favorite people is Clarence Morrison who has many memories to share.

“We encourage people to record their memories,” Frank concluded. “Wakulla County history is a work in progress.”

The historical society web site is: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~flwchs/. The museum may be reached at 926-1110.