RACHEL RAVINA/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
The Calvin B. Taylor House Museum in Berlin opened last Saturday for the 2019 summer season. Tours are available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays until Oct. 30.

By Rachel Ravina, Staff Writer

(May 30, 2019) The Calvin B. Taylor House Museum is open for the 2019 season.

“I suggest people start [at the museum] and learn about the town’s history, and then you can see how it’s changed,” curator Susan Taylor said. “It’s just a great look into the past and a way of life in Berlin.”

The Taylor House Museum previously had several exhibits sharing the town’s history, including “World War I” and “Women in Berlin.”

Taylor said the museum experienced a leak last year and had to renovate and replace the carpet in one of the rooms. She said that work also gave the museum the opportunity to put a facelift on some of the exhibits.

Taylor said the upstairs exhibit showcases life in Berlin and includes images of the town from 1900-1950.

Visitors will see some familiar exhibits, including the Man o’ War and Seabiscuit displays, as well as some of Calvin B. Taylor’s belongings.

However, there will also be some new additions. Taylor calls it “Berlin Notables,” and it will feature some of Berlin’s famous faces, including Dr. Charles Albert Tindley and Ned France.

Taylor also said the museum also has created a children’s room with financial help from the Arcadia Questers, a historical preservation group.

Carol Rose, a member of the museum’s board of directors, said the home is “like a time capsule of what the town was like.”

The house was built in 1832, and Calvin B. Taylor, founder of the banking company of the same name, lived in the home with his family from the 1890s until he died in 1932.

While he was one of the more notable residents of the home, he wasn’t the first. The home was built for plantation owner Isaac Covington and his family who resided there during the Civil War. Covington owned plantations in Snow Hill.

The home changed hands throughout the years, until the Berlin Heritage Foundation persuaded the Berlin Town Council to purchase the property for $35,000 in 1982. The Berlin Heritage Foundation then worked to restore the home using $100,000 worth of donations. Tours began in 1982.

Rose said the process “has been a labor of love. It remains that way and I’m enthusiastic.”

Admission costs $5 for adults and is free for children under 16 years old.

Along with tours, the museum hosts several community events, including the Concerts on the Lawn series and a July 3 picnic to celebrate ahead of Independence Day.

“It was extremely successful,” Rose said of the holiday picnic. “You know we had games and lemonade and cherry pie. I was there for that and it was really nice.”

The concerts on the lawn will take place on June 9, July 14, Aug. 11, and Sept. 8, according to Berlin Main Street. The Peach Festival is slated for Aug. 3.

The museum also will also hold a Classical Christmas Dinner and Concert, which Taylor said is by reservation only. Participants will dine at the Atlantic Hotel and then take in a concert by candlelight at the museum.

The museum’s seasonal hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays, Wednes- days, Fridays and Saturdays. The museum will stay open until Oct. 30.

For more information, call the museum at 410-641-1019, or visit the orga- nization’s website at taylorhousemuseum.org.