Hays ? A washing machine from before electricity; a wicker casket carrier; military uniforms from St. Joseph Military Academy.

These are all artifacts housed at the Ellis County Historical Museum, where more than a century’s worth of history, nearly 26,000 artifacts, reside.

Someday, the museum might have space to display eight to 10 percent of its artifacts, Ellis County Historical Society president Wilbert Pfeifer said, but not yet.

“We have a lot of things that can be brought out to enhance what we do have already,” said Erin Hammer, curator of the Ellis County Historical Museum.

In the basement and sub-basement, Hammer shows items that are processed and stored in acid-free paper and plastic drawers. The No. 5 plastic is safe for storing artifacts and makes cataloging and finding the items much easier.

The attic is a different story, though. Racks of clothes are covered in plastic. The silk beaded dresses from the 1920s narrowly escaped damage from a leak in the roof.

Ellis County Historical museum curator Erin Hammer stands in the county building used to house many of the 26,000 historical artifacts in the museum's possession.

“We have military uniforms from World War I,” Hammer said in the middle attic room. “We’re getting St. Joseph Military Academy and college uniforms now, which is something I’m excited about.”

Having such valuable treasures and displaying them for the public are two different stories, though.

“If we could remodel the permanent exhibit, we could display Volga German dresses and stuff from the 1950s … also military uniforms,” she said. “Even though we can’t display them now, we’re working hard to make sure they’re stored properly.”

The county building across the alley from the museum is not as ideal for such treasures, though. And it makes Hammer nervous.

“It’s not air conditioned, heated, insulated or dehumidified, so these items are at risk,” she said. “It’s in our plans eventually to get everything safe, but it’s not in the budget right now.”

The archives hold similar treasures and face the same struggles. Archivist ad Co-Director Janet Johannes said about 110 people inquire about archived information on a monthly basis.

The archives include storage in the basement, as well as photos and documents in a vault. The basement houses court records in heavy, leather-bound books.

“It’s valuable to someone,” Johannes said. “It just depends on who you are.”

Despite their value, few of these gems are protected properly.

“All of these books should be in boxes, but each box costs $17,” Johannes said. “If it’s in a box, you can slide them out without damaging the cover.”

The boxes would be acid-free and help maintain the life of each book.

Putting the books in proper boxes for preservation would cost an estimated $3,000, money Johannes has repeatedly tried to get in the form of a grant.

“Grants are one source of funding, but they take a lot of paperwork, and you can’t depend on them,” she said.

Pfeifer said he is proud of the vast resources of the museum, but is also cautious about discussing financing.

“We don’t want to antagonize the city commission and county commission,” he said, after admitting the museum has financial needs.

“We have worked very hard to attain credibility. Our goal is to include the whole community on the board. It is a county museum, not just Hays.”

Pfeifer said the museum isn’t able to offer fringe benefits such as health care or a retirement plan for its employees, making it difficult to recruit and maintain qualified help. It is also intimidating because the operating costs keep climbing. This winter will be no exception.

“We’re getting close to full capacity,” he said of the museum’s artifacts. “You just can’t put stuff on a shelf. It’ll deteriorate. The more we gather, the more our overhead is.”

Overhead includes basic necessities to preserve artifacts, such as regulated heat and humidity levels.

Pfeifer said the improvements are a necessary part of the museum’s efforts to display and preserve the county’s history.