About SGAHPS

The Spring Grove Area Historical Preservation Society was founded in 1986, inspired by the Borough of Spring Grove’s 100th Anniversary Celebration a few years earlier. The late Mayor Richard Thieret invited several people involved in that observance to reunite. The purpose of that meeting was to discuss the feasibility of organizing a local historical society. Eleven people attended that meeting. Mayor Thieret presided over the meeting and Sandra Sterner acted as recording secretary. That was on May 19, 1986.

At a second meeting on June 17, Mayor Thieret appointed nominating, membership and by-laws committees. Two subsequent meetings were held involving more discussion and planning. The new historical society was incorporated on March 31, 1987. Harry P. Schrum, who was the Spring Grove Borough Secretary at the time, became our organization’s first president. There were 183 charter memberships: 48 Life; 59 Family; 67 Individual; and 9 Patron.

Donations of artifacts grew at a steady rate. First, donated artifacts were stored in a cabinet at the Spring Grove Borough building. Display cases were built by several volunteers in 1992, and placed at Glatfelter Memorial Library. An artifacts room was eventually opened in 1997 at the Spring Grove Area School District Educational Service Center. The artifacts were moved again in 2000 to the Spring Grove Area Community Center. This building was sold in December 2020. As a result of this sale, we moved our office to 100 Glenview Road in Spring Grove and our collection to storage. Here, our collection is limited by space and rotated to highlight different artifacts. We are particularly proud that our extensive collection has well over 10,000 artifacts included in it. In addition, we have a unique collection of local photographs. Our success is attributed to the interest and generosity of the community since 1986.

Our future looks bright. We have hired a full time Executive Director, whose mission is to help secure the Society a permanent home for our collections and a research archives.  As always, we look forward to continue our mission of providing a historical legacy for this and future generations of the Spring Grove area residents.  Through increased community participation and collaborations with other organizations, we work to become a strong community partner.