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By Jody Brumage / Archivist, Heritage Frederick

Photo Courtesy Heritage Frederick

Eighty years ago, the Museum of Frederick County History was born. In 1944, Heritage Frederick, then known as the Historical Society of Frederick County, acquired its first property, the historic Steiner House on West Patrick Street.

A year earlier, Mary Cecelia Belt of Omaha, Neb., donated a large collection of antiques to the Historical Society in memory of her husband, William Bradley Tyler Belt. Born in Frederick in 1871 and educated at the Frederick Academy, Belt pursued a career with the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, eventually serving as the company’s president. Upon receiving the Tyler Belt Collection, the Historical Society’s president, Marshall Etchison, saw an opportunity to establish a permanent museum. Etchison and a committee of Society members selected the Steiner House. Mary Cecelia Belt agreed to donate the cost of the building. 

The Society quickly set about restoring the elegant Federal architecture of the house in preparation for opening the museum in time for Frederick’s bicentennial celebration in 1945. In this photograph, Etchison can be seen standing near the door in a black suit, welcoming a group of visitors inside to view the Tyler Belt Collection of furniture, art, silver and glass, as well as artifacts from his own extensive collection of Frederick County antiques, many of which he later donated to the Historical Society. 

The Steiner House continued to serve as the Historical Society’s museum until 1959, when the organization moved to its present location at 24 E. Church St. Since 1962, the Steiner House has been owned and preserved by the Frederick Woman’s Civic Club.