The Laurens County Museum has two fund-raising efforts now underway designed to accomplish goals that could potentially make the museum a magnate to draw visitors to the county. The Museum’s Board of Directors is seeking $750,000 to renovate a Main Street building for much larger museum on the Public Square, while another effort is well along to raise $100,000 for a collection of Native American Artifacts.
Regarding that effort, the Museum’s Board of Directors is hosting a reception this Sunday in honor of Dr. Robert Crawford, a collector of Native American artifacts. Dr. Crawford, a resident of Salisbury, North Carolina, has gathered a collection of artifacts that has tremendous scientific and archeological value.
The reception is open to the public and will begin at 3 p.m. at the Laurens County Museum at 205 West Laurens Street in Laurens.
Dr. Crawford is working with the Museum’s Board of Directors to transfer his Native Artifact Collection for permanent display at the Laurens County Museum. The Board has begun a campaign to raise the funds needed for the purchase of Dr. Crawford’s collection.
Dr. Crawford collected his Native American Artifacts from property that he owns on the Yadkin River near Salisbury. The property has been in Dr. Crawford’s family since it was granted by the King of England. The Collection consists of more than 300 frames with multiple projectile points in each frame, many large wall cabinets containing all types of projectile points, bowls and pots, buttons, bones and shell-work, effigy pots, grooved axes and pipes.
The Laurens County Museum is purchasing the Crawford Native American Artifact Collection because of its intrinsic historical value and also to establish a “destination collection” that will attract visitors and scholars from outside Laurens County to the Museum.
The Crawford Collection will eventually be housed in the new headquarters for the Laurens County Museum on the south side of the Public Square in downtown Laurens.
Again – The reception for Robert Crawford will begin at 3 p.m. at the Laurens County Museum at 205 West Laurens Street in Laurens.