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EDEN - For more than a year, the Eden Historical Museum has had a home. On Friday, the museum received the money needed to open its doors to the public.

Home Savings Bank gave the museum's board a $24,000 grant, which will allow the museum to house permanent exhibits.

"The dream has been in place for a long time," said Melissa Whitten, the museum's director. "The Eden Preservation Society many years ago established that one of its desires was to either start or help with a museum."

The museum, which is on Washington Street in the city's Olde Leaksville District, was established in September 2007 and is a project of the Eden Preservation Society. Jean and Thomas Harrington donated the use of the building to the museum.

Whitten said the museum will be open to the public in time for the city's annual RiverFest in September.

The $24,000 donation came from the Home Savings Bank Charitable Endowment, which provides grants to nonprofit organizations in the bank's service areas. The endowment awarded four grants totaling more than $69,000 during its first grant cycle, said bank president Jonathan Jobe.

The Eden Historical Museum will tell the city's story through the consolidation of Leaksville, Spray and Draper, Whitten said. Eden's post-consolidation history will be told through special exhibits, she said.

The museum will have 10 stations representing various themes in Eden's history, Whitten said.

Museum officials are calling the Eden Historical Museum the first of its kind in Rockingham County. It will offer outreach programs for schools and other community groups, Whitten said.

The museum previously has hosted temporary exhibits on Jesse James and World War II.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 627-4881, Ext. 126, or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com