Some of the vintage bridal gowns currently on display at the Highland County Historical Society’s Highland House Museum in Hillsboro are shown in this picture.
John Hackley | The Times-Gazette
This wedding dress was worn by Mary Duncan, the mother of Mrs. R.S. Evans and great-great-grandmother of R.B. Evans. It was at least 140 years old when it was donated to the Highland County Historical Society in 1967, making it just shy of 200 years old. It is currently on display at the Highland House Museum in Hillsboro.
John Hackley | The Times-Gazette
An exhibit of vintage wedding dresses is open at the Highland House Museum in Hillsboro and will be on display until the end of July.
The exhibit features 41 vintage wedding dresses dating from 1827 to 1969, along with photos, gift book lists, marriage certificates and other wedding memorabilia.
Highland County Historical Society members Kathy Levo, Lana Dukes and Sandy Ford began creating the display in January.
“My sister-in-law had given me these things, and I had been in charge of decorating the museum for Christmas for the last six years or more, so she just thought that would be a good thing,” said Levo. “She had all these things, and she thought maybe we could create something with it.”
After the Highland County Historical Society purchased what is now called the Hodson House next to the museum several months ago, Levo said lots of things were moved out of the museum into the Hodson House. That has made more room for exhibits at the museum. The vintage dress exhibit is the first exhibit at the museum since a Colony Theatre exhibit six years ago.
The group received donations for the exhibit from the historical societies in Greenfield and Lynchburg, and a donation from Leesburg.
“The majority of items are from Highland County,” said Levo. “Even the ones that we pulled out of the closet that we have no knowledge of, we assume that they are from Highland County families, but we don’t have the history on them.”
The museum has always had some of the vintage dresses, but they have never been showcased in an exhibit.
“When we started looking through the dresses we did have here at the museum, we couldn’t get over the number that could be displayed for a vintage exhibit,” said Levo.
There are two calico dresses on display in the log cabin behind the museum. “One of them has an apron, and we left it purposely so that we could show that after the wedding, you just put on the apron and went back to work,” said Levo. “In the early days, the pioneer days, the wedding was often times in the bride’s house, and the family prepared all of the food.”
The museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m., but will be closed July 5 and July 6 for the Festival of the Bells in Hillsboro. Groups wanting a tour outside of the regular hours can call Vicki Knauff, the museum director, at 937-393-3392.
“We would hope that the community would come and see it,” said Levo. “We think that it showcases the fashions and the styles and some of the obstacles that people had once you take a tour and realize that it isn’t just a pretty dress.”
Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.
