A new commemorative and special events museum is now open in downtown Gordo - 154 2nd Street NE. The "Ma'Cille's Museum of Miscellanea" sign in the picture above was made and painted by Ma'cille's son Glenn House Sr.. Here is his brief story about the making of the sign for her...
..Ma'Cille asked me to name her place and to make a sign. I can't remember exactly when the sign went up, but more t
han twenty years passed before she admitted to me that I had misspelled her name. "Ain't got but one 'L' in it," she said. ~ Glenn House Sr.
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Beginning sometime around 1959 or so, there was a place down a long country road in West Central Alabama called Ma'Cille's Museum of Miscellanea. The intention of this page is to bring back to life the many fond memories, photos and stories that literally thousands of people have tucked away in their minds and hearts about "Ma'Cille's Museum of Miscellanea!"
Ma'Cille's Museum of Miscellanea was created and put thogether by Lucile House and her husband Norman House. They were known to most as "Ma'Cille and Daddy Norman". They were our Grand Parents and our Great Grand Parents and we lived and grew up either just down the same country road, a country mile or two away or very nearby, spending most summers in and around the Museum itself. While we am most certainly not the "most" qualified to tell the story of Ma'Cille and Daddy Norman and the Museum itself, we all hold many, many memories of this place as do so many others. So with that in mind we openly ask for all who share in our hearts and minds a fondness for this by gone time and place to share a story or two (or three). The stories can be long or short - it is entirely up to you as they are your stories. We would love to have photos posted as well. This is meant to be a living memory of Ma'Cille's Museum of Miscellanea. Any links or other related information is welcome and appreciated! The vistors and friends of the museum included close family, distant family, people who lived in Gordo and Pickens County, visitors from The University of Alabama (students and teachers), vistors from nearby Tuscaloosa as well as all of Alabama and from many other states and countries ~ So basically from all over the world. Ma'Cille & Daddy Norman used to have a vistitor's registration book by the front door. We wonder if some family member has those records? So with that in mind we plan to have a guest registration log (once we figure out how to do that) ~ So please register!
...and don't forget to tell your story of how Ma'Cille's Museum of Miscellanea took it's place in your life, heart and memory! The idea for building this page came to us last evening (March 8th, 2012) when a facebook link began over a post by a friend of the museum, Jonathan Webber of North Carolina. His photo set was from 1986 and his link is our first post! He mentioned in a message that he had often thought about the idea of a place like Ma'Cille's Museum of Miscellanea being a crossroads of many people. His words exactly were;
"A theme I have mulled for years is the idea of place--the importance of a piece of geography in the narrative of people's lives. Some places are "hot spots" and crossroads, single locations connecting the lives of otherwise unconnected people, and this is one of them." Jonathan Webber (North Carolina)
So there you have it, a place that thousands of people share in their memories and even photos, yet do so often unknowingly. That is indeed what Ma'Cille's Museum of Miscellanea was...
... and still is!
