By Audrey Posten

The Guttenberg Heritage Society is seeking volunteers to help man the Lockmasters House Heritage Museum this season. The museum will open Memorial Day weekend and have regular hours every Thursday through Saturday, from 12 to 4 p.m., until mid-October—as long as volunteers are available.

“Primarily, we just want to have someone here. We can’t open up without having someone to monitor,” said Dan Kuempel, board member of the Guttenberg Heritage Society, which manages the museum. “Honestly, just one afternoon a year would be a big help.”

Located on the grounds of Lock and Dam #10, in Guttenberg, the Lockmasters House Heritage Museum is the sole remaining lockmaster house on its original site on the Upper Mississippi River.

“It’s a unique facility,” Kuempel said. “There used to be two houses like this at every lock and dam up and down the Upper Mississippi.”

One was for the lockmaster and the other for the assistant lockmaster.

The Corps of Engineers lifted the occupancy requirement in 1972, and one of the houses in Guttenberg was sold and moved. In 1991, a group of community members formed the Guttenberg Heritage Society to operate the remaining house as a museum preserving community and river history.

“Some civic minded people thought that it would be good to save it,” Kuempel said. “Now, it’s a combination of Mississippi River and lock and dam information and also some Guttenberg history. It’s decorated in the 1930s motif, just like it would have been when it was built.”

Kuempel stressed no previous experience is necessary, or even a large background in Guttenberg history. Volunteers can learn as they go.

While some volunteers give tours of the museum, it’s not a requirement.

“I kind of let people do a self-guided tour, and they can ask questions,” he said. “I tell them, in the basement, there’s some really nice displays of photographs of when the lock and dam was built. That’s kind of neat to see. In the 1930s, that was a major engineering feat. Then, upstairs, we’ve got a kind of a different display. There was a pioneer doctor that was in town, and the family donated all of his equipment.”

The Lockmasters Heritage House Museum currently has six volunteers, according to Kuempel. More would be helpful to spread the workload.

“Sometimes, people think when they volunteer for something, then it’s a job you can never quit. We’re not looking for that,” Kuempel said. “But if they’re interested in people or the history of Guttenberg or the history of the river, it’s a great time. And there’s no better place than sitting out there on the porch, watching the river flow. You don’t get a much better view.”

While the museum draws some locals, visitors are often from out of town. Museum volunteers can help them find places to eat and other points of interest in Guttenberg.

“Just that personal interaction with these tourists, I think, is a key thing,” Kuempel said.

Those who are interested in helping can call 563-252-2323, email guttheritage@gmail.com or message the Guttenberg - Iowa Heritage Society on Facebook.

People can also support the Heritage Society’s mission in other ways. Donations help with upkeep of the museum which, after a $250,000 building refurbishment led by the Corps of Engineers in 2020, now falls on the organization. That includes fixing some storm damage from this spring.

Engaging with the Guttenberg - Iowa Heritage Society social media also spreads the group’s mission and community history. This winter, Kuempel and fellow board member Austin Greve began regularly posting Guttenberg photographs and history on Facebook.

“It’s been fun to have the feedback from people that they didn’t know that this happened or that they remembered this,” said Kuempel, who welcomes people to share photographs and other information with the Guttenberg Heritage Society.

While the organization’s primary focus is the Lockmaster’s House, “the whole history of the community is a good thing to share,” he added.

With that in mind, the Guttenberg Heritage Society hopes to, at some point, create a display about the history of Guttenberg at the welcome center.

“A nice graphic display. We don’t really have that here,” Kuempel said.

Whereas the Lockmaster’s House is a bit off the beaten path, the welcome center is easier to get to, and the chamber would have a volunteer there to welcome people.

“They can then refer them down here,” Kuempel said.