When asked about the creation of the new Murray Museum, set to open in early May, Lori Edmunds, the current Murray Cultural Arts director, wanted to give credit where credit is due.

“Please know that without Mary Ann Kirk [the former Cultural Arts Director who retired at the end of 2017], this museum would not exist,” Edmunds said. “I feel it’s important to hear from her how it all began.”

So, these are Mary Ann Kirk’s words, slightly edited for print: “In the 1970s, a group of community members under the direction of Arlette Day asked residents to donate artifacts in an effort to create a museum for the city. When a museum location was not found, the items were eventually placed in a large storage unit in Murray. Display cases in the hallways of the old Arlington Elementary School were incorporated to feature a few selected artifacts.

“I was hired as Cultural Programs manager in 1992, and the prequel to the Arts Advisory Board was established a few years later. We were aware of the earlier efforts to create a museum and we all wondered where the artifacts donated in the 1970s were stored, but couldn’t get many answers. 

“Sometime after a new city recorder, Carol Heales, was hired in 1999, I received a phone call asking if I knew anything about a storage unit the city was paying for each year. We suspected it might be the artifacts.

“Inside, we couldn’t believe what we saw - hundreds of items, large and small, that had been in storage for about 20 years, stacked to the ceiling. Some textiles had been destroyed by insects and rodents. Candles had melted on top of an old piano. But amazingly, most items were dirty but still in good shape.”

After discovery, the history board met a couple times each week at the storage unit, wearing masks and gloves, and carefully cleaned and attempted to properly catalogue each item. The items were then moved and stored in the former gym of the old Arlington School. 

As Murray City’s 2003 centennial approached, the board worked to build an actual museum in the Arlington School for the celebration and they asked for additional donations from community members. 

“The mayor’s office even discovered a box of old photos that had been used in Murray’s 1976 publication. Through a grant between the city, Murray City Library and the University of Utah Library, the photos were scanned and eventually made accessible to the public,” Kirk continued.

The grand opening of that museum occurred in 2003, in conjunction with the city’s centennial celebrations, with displays illustrating specific parts of Murray’s story: Land, Lead and Leadership.

Then, in 2017, the city purchased the old Murray Mansion/Cahoon Mansion with the intention of renovating the historic home and turning it into a dedicated museum space for the growing collection of artifacts. 

Purchase and renovation of the Cahoon Mansion cost the city between $1.5 and $2 million, which included significant grants from state coffers. Construction slowed somewhat due to the pandemic, but now the mansion is fully restored and upgraded for accessibility and the Murray Museum will finally be open to the public. 

Currently, the collection at the new Murray Museum contains 7,751 artifacts, documents, books and photographs. “It includes anything that speaks to Murray history: family files, artifacts that belonged to Murray families or businesses and books that discuss Murray history and the lives of former residents,” Rowan Coates, Murray Museum curator, said. 

Every three months, the themed exhibits at the new museum will be rotated, displaying articles illustrating a particular part of Murray’s history. Initially, the themes will be agriculture, early industry and business. 

Additionally, the gallery room will highlight art created by Murray artists as part of the Murray Art Collections display, rotating the collection quarterly to highlight new works. 

The first gallery display will be portraits of Murray’s past and present mayors. To make the exhibit interactive to guests, residents and children can consider Murray’s future by imagining themselves as Murray’s next mayor, then drawing their own portrait.

Another way that Murray’s history will be made interactive for children is through Lego bricks. The museum will display a large, to-scale model of a historic building, then will provide mini-kits for kids to create their own mini-Murray. 

The first display will be the Murray smokestacks. “The smokestacks are a huge part of the history of Murray City and its industrial past,” Erica Brown, Murray City marketing specialist, said. “The Lego exhibit will draw visitors in and the kids will be invited to help imagine Murray’s future by building their own Lego smokestacks. It’s important for kids to learn about the city’s history, because kids are the future.”

Future Lego sets will feature the Cahoon Mansion (Murray Museum building), the Murray Theater and the Murray Chapel. 

“Being a part of the [early] process [of creating the museum] was so satisfying to me,” Kirk said. “I strongly feel that knowing and preserving the history of our community is so important. It provides an opportunity for the city to honor its past, and I look forward to an exciting opportunity for the city to share its story for many years to come in its new home.”

Grand opening events will run May 2 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. There will be tours of the mansion and exhibits and activities for kids, including a mini-Lego kit of the smokestacks to build and take home.

The Murray Museum will always be free to visit, and after the grand opening, the museum will be open Monday and Wednesday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. λ