CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The town voted more than a dozen years ago to name the meeting room in Town Hall after one of its earliest settlers. 

 

Last month, a sign dedicating the Ketchum Memorial Meeting Room was finally hung above the Select Board's table. 

 

The bronzed cast aluminum sign was purchased by the town's Historical Society, said Jeanne Moulthrop, a member and chair of the Historical Commission. 

 

The dedication had been the idea of Carl McKinney, a Select Board member at the time, who recommended an article naming the room be put before town meeting bank in 2012. 

 

"He's been after us for awhile" about signage, Moulthrop said on Tuesday, but it took the society some time to find a company that could make the plaque at a cost it could afford. 

 

McKinney's tenure as town administrator came to an end in December and, on his last day, selected which design and lettering would be ordered. Society member and Commissioner Susan Brandon coordinated the purchase. 

 

"We've got a letter that we're sending to him to let him see that it was up," said Moulthrop. "You know, to let him know that we appreciate everything that he did."

 

Capt. Matthew Ketchum was among the first of the town's settlers with Nicholas Clark in 1764. McKinney said, back in 2012, that when it came time to charter the town the families were equal — until another baby Clark arrived.

 

The town could have been called Ketchumville, he said at the time, and since the meeting room was used by all the boards, he suggested it be renamed for the captain. Maybe, he mused,  the Historical Commission could put up a plaque explaining the name at some point.

 

It just took 13 years. The plaque arrived last month and was installed in the meeting room within a day or so. 

 

The members of the Historical Commission are also members of the society; the plaque is just one aspect of the commission's efforts to recognize, archive and exhibit the town's 261 years of history. 

 

This includes creating a museum room in Town Hall, the former Briggsville School, researching its Civil War soldiers, considering how to develop a historical district, collecting artifacts and records, and recording memories from the town's older residents. 

 

It's also been returning some non-Clarksburg items to other historical groups, such as the recent gifting of a print to the Dorset, Vt., Historical Society and an old map of General Electric's original buildings to Pittsfield.

 

The commission is also looking to participate in the town's master planning process, mulling an expansion of its membership and thinking of ways to participate in the Massachusetts 250 celebration. 

 

"There are so many things on our to-do list," said Moulthrop. 

 

The commission is turning to residents to help it find artifacts, photos and records of local importance. With spring cleaning in mind, members are encouraging residents to check those attics, boxes and basements for items of interest. 

 

Contact information for the commissioners can be found on the town's website here.