7thstreet
National Heritage Military Museum


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Circa 1958: The Building is up for sale




A BIT OF THE BUILDING'S HISTORY

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This magnificent structure located at 701 Messanie Street was built at turn of century as the St Joseph Central Police Station. It is no longer owned by the City of St Joseph

It served as N.S.Hillyard Vocational-Technical school during 1941-1943
In the 1950's, the U.S.Marine Corps Reserve 4th 105 Howitzer occupied the building
A some point in time between 1970 & 1980, Canteen was located in the building

Frank Flesher purchased the building in 1989 and collected items for the museum
Frank Flesher was the first National Heritage Military Museum director
Since the passing of Frank Flesher, it is currently operated by 3 board members
The National Heritage Military Museum Society now owns the main building
The National Heritage Military Museum Society members operate the museum
Any U.S. Military Veteran can become a board member, provided they are accepted
The cost of becoming and remaining a board member is $25 per year

The site has 3 buildings, the main building, a building to the north and one across 7th street
The other 2 buildings are used mostly for storage
It is unknown at this time who actually now owns the other 2 buildings

The museum's existence depends on donations and volunteer help
Daily guided museum tours are given during the week for a modest fee

Some years ago, a local model railroad club had a large HO scale (1/35th Scale) model train layout with a military theme on the main floor but it no longer exists

Located around the building's exterior there are several military helicopters and cannons

The historic police station building got an exterior facelift when it became the National Military Heritage Museum

The museum's supporters dedicated the building to "remembering our heroes" and honoring all of the nation's military branches

The American Legion Post 11 hold their monthly meetings here



CURRENT 2015 MUSEUM INFORMATION


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Personalized Donation Front Sidewalk Bricks are available for $100 each
Estimated arrival time can be up to 6 months because the Museum has to order at least 10 personalized bricks per shipment
Above are just a few already installed, click on thumbnail to view

The museum is located on the Northeast corner of 7th & Messanie Streets
There are many military artifacts, displays, photographs and memories from all U.S. military branches dating from the Civil War to current wars located within the walls of this museum
In storage are many more items awaiting placement for public display

In 2014, the interior underwent a major facelift
Jacob Miroke was hired as the museum's first "paid" director
Jacob Miroke worked miracles cleaning up the building's interior
With the aid of several other paid employees, the inside was vastly improved by eliminating musty odors and removing stacks of disorganized clutter
Many new exhibits were designed & created to tell specific stories concerning military history

Some of those exhibits can be seen in the photos on this website but there are many more

The museum has great potential and could be a very popular museum

But, the museum ran into a slight problem
The museum, like everything else, is in dire need of funds

Unfortunately the cost to operate the museum far exceeds the income

Attendance and guided tours have more than doubled over the past year

In May 2015, Jacob Miroke and all other paid employees were let go

Today, the museum struggles to remain open
It depends solely on volunteer help, tour income and donations

What this museum needs is more public awareness and advertising
Also it needs more volunteer help and donations to keep it open
Stop in and take a guided tour, you will enjoy it

THE GUIDED TOUR

Tour times: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tour days: Monday - Friday
Military Veterans may take the tour free of charge
Adults are $3.00, children ages 12 and under are $2.00
The tour begins at the front door, the building's history is explained

The tour continues all around the main floor, finally entering the WWI room
In the WWI room, visitors are allowed to travel through the 20 foot WWI trench

The tour continues back to the main room and up 2 flights of stairs to the 2nd floor
At the landing, half way up, there are some photographs on the walls

On the 2nd floor, the tour continues by entering 9 different rooms
Each room is dedicated to various war artifacts related to it's era
Rooms include, World War II (2), Korean War Room, Memorial Room, Viet Nam Room, Desert Storm Room, Iraq Room, Women's military room and the Hall which is covered from one end to the other with Civil War and some of Viet Nam displays

As of June 29, 2015, a notebook computer with a 2nd floor slide show tour will be available for viewing by handicapped people. It will be a first hand tour of the 2nd floor almost as if though they were walking and viewing the various displays. The length and details of the slide show will increase as more photos are taken


Click on a thumbnail to view a photo
NOTE:Some photos may require an extra click to view a larger photo

MOST OF THESE DIORAMAS ARE NO LONGER DISPLAYED

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MAIN FLOOR & EXTERIOR PHOTOS



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The Trench - A replica of a WWI Trench (Part of the tour)

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The interior photos show exhibits located in 2 rooms in the main lobby and also in the WWI room

The Main Floor is a conglomeration of veteran organizations, US Coast Guard, Shore Patrol, US Air Force, US Medical Corp, US Army and the US Marine Corp
(I apologize if I have left a branch out)

The Main Floor has a room attached called the World War I Room
In the World War I room,there is an attraction called the Trench
The Trench is a replica of a WWI trench filled with actual artifacts
Both rooms and exhibits on this floor are wheel chair accessible

Photo #1 - Circa 1912 - police station and motorcycles
Photo #2 - National Military Museum
Photo #3 - National Military Museum
Photo #4 - National Military Museum
Photo #5 - Current view of the rear of the building
Photo #6 - 1970-1980 photo
Photo #7 - 1912 St Joseph Police Department - traffic division
Photo #8 - 1903 Canine unit
All other photos were taken in 2015 by Hubert "Rusty" Countryman



Stairs and Landing going to 2nd floor

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2ND FLOOR PHOTOS

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This is the 2nd floor, accessible via 2 staircases, thus it is not handicap accessible

Each room is dedicated to various war artifacts related to it's era
Rooms include, two World War II rooms, Korean War Room, Memorial Room, Viet Nam Room, Desert Storm Room, Iraq Room, Women's military room and the Hall
The Hall is covered from one end to the other with Civil War and Viet Nam displays
It also covers all branches of women services including the Red Cross


As of June 29, 2015, a notebook computer with a 2nd floor slide show tour is available for viewing by handicapped people. It is a first hand tour of the 2nd floor almost as if though they were walking and viewing the various displays




3RD FLOOR PHOTOS



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The 3rd floor is the museum's sorting and authenticating room
This room is filled with surplus items that still need to be sorted out, authenticated, and placed in it's proper room within the museum
(The 3rd floor is not included in the museum tour)

Photo #1 - Looking north
Photo #2 - The shelving are for medical, radios, canteens, mess kits, etc
Photo #3 - Looking northeast
Photo #4 - Looking northwest
Photo #5 - Military clothing, all branches including women's clothing
Photo #6 - Looking south
Photo #7 - Looking east
Photo #8 - Ammo boxes, helmets, hats, caps, small weapons & personal items
Photo #9 - Miscellaneous storage, looking south
Photo #10 - drawers contain small uniform items such as stripes, pins, medals, etc.
Photo #11 - drawers are small uniform items such as stripes, pins, medals, etc.



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Feel free to email me with any photo donations, comments or questions
Rick Drozd - rickdrozd@gmail.com


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