Harmar Elementary School students tour Henry Fearing House Museum
Photo by Peyton Neely Fifth-grader Madison Hogue from Harmar Elementary School looks at one of the Civil War exhibits at the Henry Fearing House Museum during a class tour Wednesday.
Photo by Peyton Neely Fifth-grader Gaige Ransom from Harmar Elementary School hangs his ornament on the Harmar School Christmas tree at the Henry Fearing House Museum.
Photo by Peyton Neely Fifth-grader Madison Hogue from Harmar Elementary School looks at one of the Civil War exhibits at the Henry Fearing House Museum during a class tour Wednesday.
Photo by Peyton Neely Fifth-grader Gaige Ransom from Harmar Elementary School hangs his ornament on the Harmar School Christmas tree at the Henry Fearing House Museum.
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MARIETTA -- Fifth-grade students from Harmar Elementary School filled the Henry Fearing House Museum in awe as they entered the decorated historic home for a class tour on Wednesday afternoon.
Built in 1847, this home shares the lifestyles of middle-class Marietta during the Victorian era.
"Going upstairs was cool because we don't get to do that often," said Gaige Ransom, fifth-grader at Harmar. "Learning about how they used to bathe was gross though."
The students also get to come to the Fearing House every April to ring the bell in celebration of the birth of Marietta. During this special Christmas tour, they were able to venture throughout the house and decorate the Harmar Christmas tree with ornaments they made in class.
"We have been doing the Christmas tree for at least 25 years," said Mary Jo Hutchinson, manager of the Fearing House. "The school is in our neighborhood, and the kids are our neighbors. We love involving them while teaching them about local history."
The house has Christmas trees in every room. One tree upstairs was modeled after a feather tree in the 1800s.
"That was a little weird because they used goose feathers," said fifth-grader Mason Carpenter. "It was cool to see how they created that, though."
The downstairs featured a nine-foot-tall tree decorated with handmade ornaments, bought from local crafters throughout the county, hanging around colorful lights and green and red streamers.
"There is a lot of folk art on this tree with everything from silhouettes of the Putnams and Blennerhassetts to the ornament we make of the Fearing House for this tree," said Glen Wolfe, a tour guide at the site.
Holly was also hanging in every window throughout the house to represent the oldest decorations dating back to the 1700s.
"The ornaments on the big tree are really cool; there's just so many of them," said fifth-grader Conner Lee. "I like the animal ones."
Wolfe also shared with the students that in the 1800s, people would use their shoe strings as decorations.
"They used everything for the littlest decorations," said fifth-grader Audrey Chanel. "I thought that was super cool."
Throughout the tour, students asked questions about everything from how people in the past brushed their teeth to how they tied their shoelaces.
"Brushing their teeth with sticks is a great way to get nutrients, I guess," said Carpenter.
The Henry Fearing House will be open to the public during an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The house is located at 131 Gilman Ave. in Marietta.
"We want people to experience what this place looks like decorated for the holidays," said Wolfe. "Admission is free but donations are more than welcome."