By Staff
BERRIEN SPRINGS – The Berrien County Historical Association (BCHA) in Berrien Springs has changed its name.
Formerly known as the 1839 Courthouse Museum, the organization has become The History Center at Courthouse Square. In consulting with focus groups and the organization's membership, the Historical Association's board of trustees found that confusion existed over its identity.
Several names were being used to refer to the Historical Association.
The board of trustees settled on The History Center at Courthouse Square as best describing the organization and its purpose.
"We wanted a name that would identify us as a county history center located in the original Berrien County courthouse square," said BCHA executive director Frances Porter. "The History Center at Courthouse Square melds the concept of a historical center with our best-known and most identifiable structure, the 1839 Berrien County Courthouse."
The organization's legal name, the Berrien County Historical Association, remains the same.
The BCHA is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, having been founded in 1967 to restore the original county courthouse.
Over time, the BCHA has grown to include the entire courthouse square and four more buildings. Its activities include exhibits, programs, events, publications and research. It also provides archival storage for early Berrien County governmental records.
For more information, visit the History Center's Web site, www.berrienhistory.org.