Some of the county’s oldest remaining artifacts aren’t located inside the shelves of the Dowagiac Area History Museum or another historical repository.

They are located behind a steel vault door, inside the clerk’s office inside the county annex in Cassopolis. Lining the shelves inside this small room are hundreds of bound paper documents, many of which contain handwritten records of the small, seemingly insignificant events that comprise the history of the area — land purchases, marriages, births and more.

For years, the subpar storage conditions have taken a toll on these historic tomes, with decades of deteoration eating away at these one-of-a-kind documents.

Last week, though, the seven members of the Cass County Board of Commissioners took action to finally help combat this issue. By an unanimous vote, the board approved nearly $45,000 worth of funds for the installation of a climate control system for the country archive, as well as for the restoration and digitization of a number of ailing record books.

Hardly a paltry sum of money, the decision to devote these funds was likely not an easy one for county leadership to make. We feel it was the right one to make, though.

Issues relating to the improper care of historic documents are not a rare occurrence, sadly. With signs of damage taking literal decades in most cases to show up, it’s pretty easy for these problems to fly under the radar for local governments.

After years of boiling in the background, though, it was time for decisive action from the county to ensure the records that chronicle the history of the region continue to exist for perpetuity. Just like with last year’s $200,000 decision concerning the restoration of the historic county courthouse, the commissioners have made the hard, but necessary, investment into the history of this area.

While not as visible as the courthouse, the county’s historic records serve a vital role to the public, be they historians conducting research for their latest book or for residents just wanting to know more about their family’s background.

In an era of where nearly everything is digitized, we also applaud the county for their decision to begin investing in electronic copies of these books. While this will certainly be a project that takes decades to complete, it is the right step to take.

We feel that a continued investment in Cass County’s past will lead to more and better opportunities in its future.

 

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of Publisher Michael Caldwell and editors Ambrosia Neldon, Craig Haupert, Ted Yoakum and Scott Novak.