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Regional History Museum - Collections

Thanks to the founders of the Historical Association and the many generous citizens of Spartanburg, the Association has a wonderful collection of substantial range and scope.  It includes the furnishings of the historic homes managed by the Association as well as the artifacts held by the Regional History Museum.  Artifacts in the collection span from nearly 10,000 years ago to the early 21st century.

The collections held in the historic homes are mostly determined by their relevance to the time period of the home and the families to whom the homes belonged.  On the other hand, the collection held at The Regional History Museum more generally covers the history of the Spartanburg County region.  This collection has several areas of focus, including:

• Military History - This collection includes artifacts from the military conflicts that have impacted the region. This includes archaeological items excavated at Revolutionary War battlefields, memorabilia from the Civil War, and artifacts from the training camps located in Spartanburg County during the two World Wars.
• Textiles and the Textile Industry - The museum holds a large collection of textiles in the form of quilts and clothing items as well as artifacts relating to the textile mill industry that formed the bedrock of the region's economy for nearly one hundred years.
• Fine Arts and Photographs - Included in the museum's collection is a large body of paintings, sketches, and prints by local artist Margaret M. Law, who documented the lives of industrial and agricultural workers during her career as an artist. The museum also possesses a substantial number of photographs documenting the physical and social landscape of the region.
• Decorative Arts - A revived interest in locally-crafted furniture has spurred on this recent addition to the museum's collection. Spartanburg County was home to a distinctive decorative motif in furniture from the 1790s-1840s, now known as the half-penny inlay and the museum is fortunate to have several of these pieces in its collection.
• Archives - The museum holds a large collection of documents including maps, ledgers, manuscripts and postcards. Holdings include some Spartanburg County government records, letters, newspapers, local plats and blueprints, organizational scrapbooks and printed ephemera.
• Dolls and Toys - Also included in the museum's collection are a wide variety of dolls and toys ranging from the early 19th to the late 20th centuries.

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