By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
Jim Plummer’s historical displays are nothing new. Plummer maintained a museum – mostly of Native Pre-Columbian artifacts – on the road to Carter Caves for many years. Since closing that location, he’s arranged displays for special occasions at the Olive Hill Center for Arts & Heritage. He even had one of the old classrooms in the center with a series of permanent displays. But now, Plummer has more than just a classroom. He has the entire top floor of the old high school, and space to showcase more of the amazing collection that he’s accrued over the years – an opportunity that opened up after the library vacated the space for a more accessible location in the elementary school building.
He’s arranging the bulk of the collection in chronological order for the holiday event, beginning with Pre-Columbian artifacts as you enter the main area, and working his way up through the earliest settlers, the Revolution, the first World War, and Matthew Sellers’ aviation achievements. There are other displays of more recent material too, displayed around the edges of the main room, including circus posters, pulp magazines of the 1940s and 50s, Olive Hill High School memorabilia, and other content.
“We’ll have probably a theater theme out in the hallway, the old Dixie Theater in Olive Hill. Then I’ve come here into the Baby Boom era… and probably by the Vietnam era, or somewhere about the time the school closed here, that’ll be about it.”
It’s an ambitious project, especially to be completed in time for the planned July 3 opening, but Plummer has the material to pull it off.
“I opened the shop at Carter Caves in 1972,” he explained. “So, it’s been 50 years now, 53 years.”
While he’s collected much of that himself over the years, the initial impetus came from his family collection of Pre-Columbian artifacts, many found in and around the Carter Caves area.
“The collection (of Native artifacts), that came down through my family, and I’ve added to it through the years,” Plummer explained. “I’ve always had a museum here in the county, since ’72, with my father.”
“But,” he continued, “my old building got in such shape, it was hard. The upkeep was hard. So, I talked with Linda Lowe (from the Center for Arts & Heritage.)”
Lowe was a longtime friend, Plummer explained, “a year behind me in school.”
Lowe and the Center for Arts & Heritage – previously the Olive Hill Historical Society – had space, but nothing to fill it with, he explained. He had a collection, but no place to display it. So, the first collaboration – a military display for the Homecoming weekend – was born. Since then they’ve put on a few other events and displays, but nothing of the scale this new endeavor represents.
Eventually, he said, he’d like the space to be open for school groups and others to tour by appointment. Another possibility they’ve discussed, he said, was a gift shop on the first floor, selling rocks, minerals, fossils, and jewelry. The first floor would also provide space for some of his larger displays that can’t be brought up the stairs or elevator to the top floor. Having a gift shop would enable Plummer to be on site for any impromptu requests for access to the museum as well; for instance, if someone visiting or passing through wanted to have a look.
“It’s going to be a little bit up to how many people we’re going to have available at any one time to watch (the space),” he explained. “It may be on a schedule from nine to ten, for a group to come in. We might have school buses and things like that with young people on field trips. They can go to Carter Caves and do the field trip down there and, if they have time, they can have a little field trip here too.”
Right now, tours will be by appointment, and for special events like Homecoming, he said, “and we’ll see how it all works out.”
Those interested in having their own look at Plummer’s collection will have their opportunity on July 3 and 4.
“Thursday and Friday we’re going to open around 10 o’clock in the morning,” Plummer said. “We’ll enter through the gym doors, come inside, and there’ll be someone to greet you there.”
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
