By Bethany Hooper

Associate Editor

While America’s 250th anniversary is still two years away, officials with the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum are already making preparations to celebrate the semiquincentennial.

Melissa Reid, museum president, told the Berlin Town Council on Monday that the museum has plans to introduce several events in 2026, which will mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As the country celebrates its history, officials with the museum will also prepare exhibits and activities that celebrate Berlin’s past.

“The Taylor House Museum for the last several years has worked to focus on events and get our name out there in the community a little more, and that has been fairly successful,” Reid said. “We’ve definitely had some more successful events lately, but we feel like the United States’ 250th anniversary gives us a chance to sort of reorient everybody back to the fact that we are a museum.”

In its mission to tell the stories of Berlin, Reid said the museum will introduce an exhibit that focuses on the town’s renaissance. She said photos will show the growth and regeneration of the municipality over the decades.

“In our photo archives, we have some fascinating photographs of what it really looked like in the 70s, and some of us were here to remember that,” she told the council. “But I think there are lots of people that have come to Berlin or that have grown up since then that really don’t know what it looked like in the 1970s and the community effort it took to get to where we are today. And so our focus, our hope, for that exhibit is to really show some before and after photographs so that people can see what it used to look like and, again, the community work it took to get us where we are today.”

Reid said the museum also has plans to introduce a multimedia walking tour in 2026. She said images from the museum’s archives will be used to tell the stories of the town’s various industries. For example, as participants stand at the location of Berlin’s former Harrison Nurseries, the basket factory, or the railroad station, they can access photos and information from the museum’s website to learn more about each industry.

“This would move a little past the historic house tours that have been done in the past and do a little bit more of the industries,” she said.

Reid added that the museum will also host an oyster roast in 2026. She said the event is tentatively slated to take place in the fall.

“Berlin has never done that,” she said. “So we’re hoping that that would be something that that museum is going to add to our list of events for that 2026 year, to celebrate the local seafood industry, tying back into the industries of Berlin.”

While not part of the 250th celebrations, Reid said that other activities are on tap at the Taylor House Museum. She noted that museum officials are working with Maryland Historical Trust to organize an archeological dig at the museum property.

“We have uncovered some foundations of some outbuildings on the museum lawn,” she said. “We know there were outbuildings. We didn’t know how many we still had on our property, and we just uncovered a foundation of the smokehouse. So we’re going to do an archaeological dig in partnership with Maryland Historical Trust.”

While the dig will take several years to plan, once complete, Reid said it will allow the museum to better tell the stories of the people who lived on the Taylor House property.

“So that is a little farther down the road,” she told the council, “but we just wanted to keep you guys up to date.”

Reid added that the museum continues to look for, and accept, any photos people may have of Berlin and its various aspects of life. She said those interested in sharing their photos can call the museum, or email info@taylorhousemuseum.org.