1930s Harness Shop Buildings Featured at Anderson County Museum

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

Did you Anderson County Museum is home to one of the most complete early 20th century harness shops in the Southeast?

Located on the upper parking lot at the museum is McGee Brothers harness shop and buildings, which operated in southern Anderson County in Starr for at least half a century. In 2005, the McGee family donated the structure and its contents to the museum, and a pair of master craftsmen from Arkansas spent months moving the shop and restoring it completely at the new location.

Months of detailed work by a pair of Arkansas master craftsmen restored every floorboard, nail, leather scrap and partially completed harness from the Starr site, tagging every time for reassembly and display.

The $100,000 project was completed 20 years ago and is now on permanent display on the grounds of the museum, an exhibit which offers a snapshot of the harness shop as it looked in the 1930s.