The repairs being made to the Moniteau County Historical Society building are winding up.
The building, across from the post office on High Street in California, includes the pre-1937 post office, an adjacent former business location attached to the north of the old post office and a new addition to the west end of the building. The new addition contains an extensive genealogy library. The old post office downstairs is filled mostly with a museum. The north part contains a meeting room. The second floor has a few museum displays including a California manufactured wagon and sleigh.
The repairs, which were made by Brian Stahl, Randy Potter and Jim Caton of Stahl Construction, include replacement of water-damaged floor joists, cutting off a part of a metal step to allow an angle change to prevent rainwater from flowing under flooring, replacing some exterior wood and some tile work. All of the exterior woodwork is also repainted.
Although much of the work has been needed for some years, some of the repairs were made to strengthen the flooring for the future display of the Heck horse. The restored horse will eventually be put on display in the front window of the Historical Society building.
The more than 125-year-old horse, which stood for many years in the Heck Saddlery on the Courthouse Square, was purchased at an auction in June 2016, and was taken to be restored by an expert. The original purpose of the horse was to model some of the saddles and bridles which were manufactured by the saddlery. It was sold in 1973. The business closed in 1976.