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| Is local historical society history? By Lewis Rutherfurd [ lewis@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 11:41 AM PDT The Spanishtown Historical Society was once among the largest groups of its kind in the county and a force in local preservation and education initiatives. But it lies largely dormant these days, without a functioning address, regular meetings or active members to attend them. "There haven't been meetings for two years, maybe longer," said Gina Capers. "I was vice president, but I sort of pulled myself out." Then Capers corrected herself. "There's nothing to pull out of." Capers noted that calls to the society's phone number went unreturned and that the post office box for the group was defunct. A visit to the group's Web site showed the last events listed as taking place in 2004. "I question if it's even legally existing," Capers said. The organization, which operates the old jail on Johnston Street, as a historical treasure and tourist draw, once counted hundreds of members. But its fortunes seem to have fallen with the death in 2003 of benefactor Mary Lou Cunha Orange, who had been the organization's president. "They are active," said Jeanette Carlson, a disclosure specialist with the California Franchise Tax Board. Another official from the board confirmed that the society was operating in good order, but said it did not hold tax-exempt status. Capers holds Spanishtown's current president, Half Moon Bay City Councilwoman Marina Fraser, responsible for the group's situation. "I'd like to see her let go and get someone else to reorganize this whole thing," Capers said. For her part, Fraser has no plans to step down, although she does acknowledge some decline. "True, the membership's kind of dwindled," Fraser said. "I wouldn't say it's an active membership." The society's post office box was in the name of Cunha Orange - one of the society's leading lights. The postal box has been inactive since her death in 2003. "I'm getting a new P.O box now," said Fraser, when asked about the mail situation. The society's annual tea has been held and its headquarters at the old Half Moon Bay Jail has been open sporadically to students and during the Pumpkin Festival weekend, she added. The society also worked hard for more than a year to get the downtown DeBenedetti building listed as a Historical Point of Interest by the state Office of Historical Preservation, said Fraser. The building was listed in 2006, and other such projects are on the way. "I kind of know what the process is now," said Fraser of the complex listing procedure. She is currently working with a local civic organization to preserve another large downtown building and hopes that effort will serve to spur renewed interest in the society. "I've got to figure out a different way to get new members," said Fraser. "It's always been, there's this historical society, and I get people to either help with the tea or sit at the jail. I want to get people more involved with preservation." While the society has waxed and waned over the years - with many giving credit to Cunha Orange for reviving it in the late 1990s - it was once prominent. "I remember them as one of the most active societies in the county," said Mitch Postel, president of the San Mateo County Historical Society since 1984 and head of the county's museum. "There was a time when I know there were a couple of hundred families" involved as dues-paying members. Postel has been working for historical preservation in the county since 1977. He worked for the Spanishtown Historical Society briefly in 1979 and remembers it as a large organization then. He has not heard much from the group in the last few years, Postel added. "I'm pulling for them," Postel said. "I hope that they get active," Historical societies can play an important role. "If they want, they can be the conscience of the community when it comes to preservation, whether it's a lamppost, a house or a district," said Postel. |