Nearly every object in the museum’s collection has been donated by families of the nearby villages and four “lost” towns–or their descendents. Some are elegant with charming stories, such as the wedding gowns of three New Salem sisters who promised each other as young girls to marry at the same time. Other objects are as ordinary as an old pair of shoes or a canning jar. But all tell a unique story, representing the everyday lives, the celebrations, and the heartaches of the 2500 displaced residents and the 7500 before them whose graves were relocated.