'Herculean' historic preservation at Mill Rift is heralded

MILL RIFT — The Mill Rift Civic Association lauded a “herculean effort” in historical preservation by the National Park Service's Upper Delaware National Recreational River.
The association thanked Lauren Hauptmann, museum coordinator for the Upper Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River, and intern Elizabeth Nicholson for photographing, cleaning, and inventorying the association's historic memorabilia collection over many hours this summer.
“The museum collection at the Mill Rift Town Hall has a special place in the hearts of many of the residents of Mill Rift,” said association president Doug Militzer in a letter to Kristina Heister, Upper Delaware superintendent.
"We have had an overwhelmingly positive response from the family of Tom Hanney, who donated the original collection, and other town residents,” Militzer wrote. “Since this work began in June, the interest in the museum from outside of Mill Rift has also increased. The Museum looks amazing after the herculean effort of Lauren and Elizabeth.
“We could not have accomplished this effort without both the financial and personnel assistance from the National Park Service. This project has set the Civic Association up to continue our preservation efforts of the museum and document our town history.”
The Upper Delaware has long been viewed as a progressive cooperative effort between the federal government and local levels to manage recreation and cultural resources, he said.
"We hope that we can continue to work with the National Park Service in the future to promote the history of the Upper Delaware River Valley,” Militzer wrote.
Intern Nicholson attends SUNY at New Paltz, N.Y., with the hopes of moving on to a masters in museology. This summer, in addition to working with the Mill Rift Civic Association park service, she interned at the Wayne County Historical Society.
Militzer said the mission of the Mill Rift Civic Association is to be a focal point "for our diverse community to gather together as a voice to protect our history, our unique environment and our lifestyle for future generations; providing a gathering place to meet as friends and neighbors in order to solve problems that may arise in our community; using our various talents to help each other when necessary. It is this community’s responsibility to see that what we cherish in Mill Rift will survive in an increasingly urban world.”
For more information visit the MRCA page on Facebook.