Community Preservation Act grant activity
Archival Digitization and Preservation
The OHS is the Town of Orleans largest repository of cultural artifacts, historic phtographs and archival records.
Preserving, digitizing and archiving is expected to take three years, 2010 - 2013. The CPC has granted funding for this estimated three year project.
Additional support for this project has come from the Hess and Helyn Klein Foundation.
View a recently conserved manuscript from 1781! >>
Motor Lifeboat CG36500 Restoration
Extensive restoration to the famous Gold Medal boat made famous by its crew of four in the February 18th, 1952 rescue of 32 survivors of the ill-fated tanker Pendleton, during a tremendous 70 knot northeasterly storm.
Visit the CG36500 website to learn more...
Meeting House Musuem Electrical Upgrades Part I and II
Electrical upgrades to comply with current standards for the 1830s Meeting House Museum building.
Video Project, "In Those Days, Orleans Video Histories"
Video interviews created by Tom Cronin in the 1980's - 1990's, will be edited and reformatted to DVD. The interviews are with Orleans people speaking about fishing, art, business and local lore. The final videos will be shown on public access television and and are available for purchase at the Society Museum.
Additional funding has come from the 
Company.
Click here to view the list of segment titles > >
Orleans Town Ledgers, late 1800's through early 1900's
These 40 ledgers contain wonderful information about Orleans past. Property values, acreage, livestock, houses, autos, etc. The books were cleaned of loose dirt and mold, after which each page was be digitally photographed and filed for digital research retrieval. The ledgers are stored and available upon request.
Glass Plate Negative Project
211 glass plate negatives found in a local attic were given to the Orleans Historical Society in the autumn of 2005. The photographer Harry J. Sparrow resided in Orleans as a young man, took these images in the early spring of 1911. With funds from the Community Preservation Act the collection has been preserved through digital scanning and archiving, and the original plates safely stored. The digital images are available for viewing and research through several venues, including the 'collections' page of this website.
Orleans Oral Histories
More than 75 oral histories recorded by Orleans citizens from 1980 to the present have been transferred to audio CD's for a more stable storage format, and the digital audio files can now be used for listening playback in multiple ways. The transcripts have been entered into word processing files and are available for reading and research.
Listen to a few histories on our 'collections' page!.
Meeting House Museum New Roof
The roof was long overdue for replacement and suffered added damage in the famous December 9th storm of 2005. The work was done using historically acurate wooden shingles rather than the current asphalt shingles. This project enhances the overall condition and beauty of this charming building which dates from the 1830's.
Preservation of Artifacts and Books
A new tempered glass cover over the Bicentennial Quilt display was installed by Cape & Islands Glass.
Two 19th century samplers were cleaned, restored and framed with museum glass by Museum Textile Services of Andover, MA.
A volume series The Acts and Resolves of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, were cleaned and rebound with leather by Talin Bookbindery in Yarmouthport.