County residents were able to take a trip back in time Saturday with the 11th annual history fair at the Fairlane Village mall in Pottsville.
The event is a product of the Association of the Schuylkill County Historical Societies and Museums, also known as the coalition of historical societies, which all 20 historical societies in the county were represented Saturday.
Jennifer Bowen, president of the coalition and the Orwigsburg Historical Society, said the event has been held at the mall ever since the first one that had only 10 historical societies in participation.
"It's that time once a year when every historical society and museum in the county can come together in one place," Bowen said. "It not only to display artifacts and share a little bit of their local history, but also to bring people from their communities to see what other communities are doing."
Each vendor had their own unique artifacts to represent their community and historical societies, with antiques, yearbooks, photos and history from coal mining, manufacturing and agriculture.
"Yearbooks are always a popular thing because people want to go back and look at their days gone by, look for their friends, look for their pictures, and it's fun," Bowen said.
Florence Leddy, Saint Clair, who said she was a graduate of Saint Clair High School, could be seen flipping through the pages of Clairian yearbooks at the Saint Clair Historical Society table.
"We're just trying to find our older relatives and friends, but haven't found any yet," Leddy said.
Bowen said that one of the youngest historical societies in the county is the Auburn Area Historical Society, which recently formed and is still looking for a building.
Dan Kerschner, vice president of the Auburn Area Historical Society, said the society is currently located in the Auburn Community Center.
Society Treasurer Bonnie Mates and President Todd Graybill were also present at the history fair.
"We started in 2007 from the 150th anniversary of Auburn and this kind of spun off from that," Kerschner said. "People brought stuff for the display and then this kicked off and we've been going ever since. It's been getting bigger and bigger."
On display at their fair tables was memorabilia from the Auburn Brick Company, pictures and yearbooks from the Auburn High School and general information on the town.
They were also selling calendars and cookbooks.
"We have stuff on display there (at the community center), but what we have, we could fill a building," Kerschner said.
