Strolling through downtown Hollister’s tree-lined streets past beautiful early 20th-century homes is the San Benito County Historical Society Museum.
Housed in the Prairie Style former residence of George Wapple at 498 Fifth St. since 1995, it is run by a handful of dedicated volunteers.
Volunteer Docent Sharlene Van Rooy, an enthusiast of local history, explained that George Wapple was one of the first pharmacists to set up shop in downtown Hollister in 1882 after having completed his pharmaceutical education in San Francisco. He had worked in Gilroy for a short time.
The building is owned by the County of San Benito. The Historical Society, which runs the museum and research center, is the caretaker while depending on the public and nonprofit organizations to keep it running. There is an endowment fund at the Community Foundation for San Benito County, and the historical society is able to draw on a little bit of interest each year for necessary repairs.
The first floor rooms of the 106-year-old house are chockfull of antique furniture and memorabilia. Each room has a focal point. As you walk in the lobby area, there is a display of trunks representing the arrival of the Scott Gilmore family and their friends. The room on the right has a “Black History” focus. It tells the story of the Scott Gilmore family, who were black and who traveled across the country by train from Arkansas at the invitation of former plantation playmate Daniel Gilmore, Jr., who was white. (At that time, it was common for slaves to adopt their plantation owner’s name. Scott’s family name had been “Parks” but they changed it to Gilmore because they felt very close to the white Gilmores.) Scott and Daniel, Jr. had been playmates in Arkansas on Daniel, Sr.’s plantation and had not seen each other for 20 years. Daniel, Jr. wanted to set up a vineyard and plantation and needed reliable workers, so he’d invited them to come out with a promise of $30 per month salary, a very generous wage at the time.
They arrived on January 2, 1889 and were greeted by Daniel Gilmore, Jr. and the editor of the Hollister Free Lance, W.B. Winn. There were 10 people in the group: two men, three women and five children. The Hollister Free Lance jokingly called them the “southern excursionists.” Daniel Gilmore, Jr. wanted reliable workers for his vineyard in the Cienega District at the foot of the Gabilan Mountains. For several reasons, lack of reliable water being one of them, the vineyard did not work out but the black Gilmore family and their friends stayed on in Hollister. They became business and property owners and invited their friends back east to come out to Hollister so that at one time about 75 black people were living in Hollister, the largest black community in the West. There is a photograph of another black pioneer, Ishmail “Bill” Williams, quite a local character, who had come out West earlier in 1852 with the Hicks family. He was disabled from birth but was very strong and a hardworking teamster hauling hay, grain and wool throughout the county. He died on April 23, 1905 at age 92.Walking around the various rooms of the Victorian-style furnishings and displays of ordinary life, one can see how some people lived and how others earned a living. There are cotton blouses and irons weighing two pounds each used to press them (school kids love to pick them up), two pairs of leather shoes for adults and a pair for a child.
A wooden cabinet apparently used by the county government with more than 50 drawers full of blank paper forms shows things may only change a little (today’s forms are no doubt on-line). In another room stands a 105-year-old pump organ, the Double Bank Harmonic Organ with an octave and a half pedal as if waiting for someone to sit down and play. A display of cameras and photography equipment from its beginning days is in a small, back room. Bookcases filled with books line the walls of many rooms.
The San Benito County Historical Society is the “morgue” (newspaper lingo for where old copies of newspapers are kept) for this paper, the Hollister Free Lance. They have all the old print issues; some are on microfilm and they would like to have all the issues digitized, but need to find a generous donor for the project.
Van Rooy, who has been volunteering for 20 years (since 1995) says, “I’ve really enjoyed volunteering and learning about our past because it makes living here so much more interesting and fun.”
The museum is at 498 Fifth St. in Hollister next to the library. Please call for an appointment 831.635.0335. Free admission—donations accepted.
