By LENORE RUTHERFORD

The Union Democrat

Nothing appears distinctive about the old, corrugated tin building at the corner of Columbia and Fulton streets in Columbia State Historic Park.

From the outside, it looks pretty much the same as it did in the 1930s, when it was a county road maintenance building. It's even gotten a little rusty over the years.

Inside is a different story.

A completely insulated, environmentally-controlled building was created within the original tin barn, said curator Thonni Morikawa, who is in charge of all of the state-owned artifacts in the park.

The purpose of what might seem to be deception is simply to retain the character of the park and prevent changing the appearance of vintage buildings.

"It's called adaptive re-use," Morikawa said.

The new building has a cement floor, thick walls, fine misters to add moisture if the humidity gets too low, and dehumidifiers to remove moisture from the air if it gets too high. She keeps it as close as possible to 45 percent humidity.

The temperature stays at a constant 65 degrees, winter and summer. "I would really like it at 60 degrees," she said, "but it's hard to work in here at that temperature. We wear jackets all the time now."

The building also has water sprinklers in case of fire and a high-tech security system.

The barn was owned by Frank Dondero, when the California State Parks Department purchased it in 1960.

Since then, it has been used for storage, and for some time, it was

used by the park's stagecoach concession as a tack room and barn.

The rehabilitation project began in 2001 and was completed in 2004. Morikawa came on board two years ago, the park's first curator since the 1960s.

She is responsible for over 15,000 artifacts in the park, including 6,000 to 7,000 in the tin barn.

"And that's not counting individual pieces of paper in our manuscripts collection," she said.

Volunteers and part-time employees help her catalog, clean and protect the artifacts.

White gloves are worn when objects are touched to prevent oily hands from damaging them. Dust covers are used, and everything is vacuumed on a regular basis.

Artifacts that are not in imminent danger of being destroyed by changes in temperature, humidity and ultraviolet light are rotated in and out of the public viewing areas of the park.

The tin barn has a wealth of artifacts from Columbia, which dates back to the California Gold Rush.

Much of the town was purchased by the state in 1945 for use as a state park after a lengthy campaign by local residents to save the historic buildings from destruction while maintaining the town as a living community.

It has become the best-preserved example of Gold Rush life in the Mother Lode.

Many of the artifacts stored in the tin barn have stories connected to them, and Morikawa said she learns more every day.

A good example is a child's coffin stored on a shelf in the tin barn.

Crafted of mahogany in the 1870s or ‘80s, the 5-foot-6-inch long casket features silver handles, a pleated satin interior and the inscription, "Our Darling," on top.

It was stolen from the park's livery stable in August 1992, where it had been displayed inside an antique hearse since the 1950s.

"Thousands of people have seen it," said then ranger Diana Newington. "It's so unique that it's been a real conversation piece."

The coffin was found in October 1992. An Atwater woman said her son brought the coffin home saying friends had given it to him and he thought it would be a good Halloween decoration.

She thought it was too ornate and expensive to be used so casually and started asking friends about it. Eventually, she heard about one just like it being stolen from Columbia and called the Atwater Police Department.

They contacted Columbia park officials, and it was returned.

Other items stored in the tin barn include vintage clothing and quilts. One tiny wedding dress comes from the Sleeper family and dates back to 1871, Morikawa said. Now cream colored, it may have been white when it was new.

Morikawa said on the average, people were 10 to 12 inches shorter in the 1800s than they are now.

A short tour of the barn revealed such things as one of the oldest barber chairs in California, all kinds of furniture, a leather vest used to carry gold, many photographs, artwork, antique saddles, cookware, medicinal items, eyeglasses, bottles, and knick-knacks.

Among dozens of quilts, wrapped around dowels and covered with sheeting, is a French flag that has visitors once a year: heirs of the French man who brought the flag to Columbia during the Gold Rush.

The late attorney, Melvin Belli, who was born in Sonora in 1907 and lived there 11 years before moving with his family to Stockton, once tried to get a bathtub that he remembered being bathed in as a child when his grandmother lived in part of the drug store in Columbia. He heard the tub had been turned into a horse trough and wanted to save it, but changed his mind when he found out it was being preserved.

His grandmother, Anna Mouron, was California's first female pharmacist.

The tub is now one of the tin barn's relics.

There are three antique pianos and one organ stored in the tin barn, along with an Odd Fellows desk that predates 1857.

A sample of the wooden water pipe miners created to carry water to their diggings is also stored in the tin barn.

Protecting the artifacts requires constant maintenance, Morikawa said. Her job is a balance between protecting them and having them available to the public, as well.