LAWRENCE — Twice so far this year the Lawrence History Center has reconstructed city history from the ashes of two devastating fires.
The first fire, on Jan. 13, destroyed the century-old Turn Hall on Park Street. About one week later most of a city block was leveled by fire in South Lawrence.
After the Turn Hall fire, the History Center posted information about the building on its Web site: http://www.lawrencehistorycenter.org/.
The center found a lot of interest with dozens of hits and comments from people searching the site for information about the building that was once home to the German athletic association Turn Verein.
That interest prompted Patricia Jaysane, a research and education fellow at the center, to dig deeper into the center's archives and pull together an exhibit about Turn Hall now on display at the center, 6 Essex St.
"It's not so much the building, but the history behind it. It was the center of so much activity," Jaysane said.
On the center's Web site, Jaysane wrote about the origins of Turn Verein, whose members lived by the motto "A Sound Mind in a Sound Body." It also included a description of the building, and memories from former members.
"It was an effort to remember it," Jaysane said. "People were really melancholy about it and anxious that it wouldn't be remembered."
Among the items on display are two beer steins that came from Turn Hall and an award inscribed in German.
"It's always amazing that you don't think what you have is something you can use, and there's always, always an opportunity to," she said.
Turn Hall was organized in Lawrence in 1866. From 1896 to around 1975, the three-story brick building was the site of indoor sports competitions such as gymnastics and theater productions.
It was also used by the Boys Club and for Catholic Masses.
"I'm hoping this brings our history into focus," Jaysane said of the exhibit. "There will be a memory for them although the building will no longer be there."
Early in the morning of Jan. 21 another fire destroyed 14 buildings on Parker, Market and Springfield streets in South Lawrence.
Again, Jaysane went on a history hunt.
This time, she looked through atlases published from 1875 to 1926, and found maps of what the area looked like.
Instead of putting them on display, Jaysane posted several maps on the center's Web site showing the neighborhood's development. She said the Internet is becoming a powerful tool for historical societies such as the Lawrence History Center.
In addition to the street names, the maps show the owners' names. The properties are color-coded to differentiate their type of construction — pink for brick, yellow for wood and blue or grey for stone.
Jaysane is looking for photographs from businesses and homes in the Parker, Market and Springfield street areas to add to the History Center's collection, as far as 1875.
"This shows how important it is to preserve our history," Jaysane said. "The idea is to get away from fragmentation of history that goes on."
Looking through the collection at the center, she found photographs and scrapbooks filled with newspaper articles, documents and play bills, which she has put on display.
The Lawrence History Center is open Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon. It will be closed Saturday, March 22.
Turn Hall items on display
Program from "Gymnastic and Singing Festival," 1924
Playbill from "Sunny Side Hotel," 1938
"Grand Minstrel Show and Dance," 1923
Photographs of gymnastic events
