It originally was a bank, then a mortgage company, then it became Lawrence’s city hall.

But for the last 30 years, the majestic building at 1047 Mass. has operated as a museum.

“Almost everything we collect is somehow connected to a Douglas County citizen,” says Rebecca Phipps, director of the Watkins Community Museum of History.

“We collect, preserve and disseminate the history of Douglas County. We are looking for local history and local family history. … It’s the local history of everyday people. Not just the city founders or the county founders – it’s just people.”

Phipps and curator Kerry Lippincott, both Kansas University graduates in museum studies, claim that most of the items at the museum are brought in by Kansas residents on their own. Lippincott says the majority of the collection hails from the 19th century.

The 20,000-square-foot building is a remnant of that era, and one of its most unusual features is a holdover from its origin as a bank.

Founder Jabez Bunting Watkins lived in the attic above the third floor. (“We call this his bachelor pad before he married,” Lippincott says of this area, which has never been open to the public.) Oddly enough, it was in his living quarters where the bank vault and safety deposit boxes were housed.

Little has changed since that time, as ornately painted vault doors continue to guard the boxes, which are still labeled with their original owners (e.g., Oliver and Griggs, 1883-1887).

“I checked them all out when I first got here, hoping there would be some gold coins or something that would help save us,” Phipps says of the vacant containers. “But no, there’s nothing in here.”

Fortunately, there are plenty of valuables and oddities to be discovered in the rest of Watkins.

ELECTRIC MILBURN: “People think electric cars are a new thing. Here we have one from 1916,” Lippincott says.

The Milburn was steered by two stick levers and required one battery in its trunk and one under its hood.

“It does currently run on golf cart batteries. If we had the ability to get it in and out safely, we could use it in parades,” Phipps adds. “The car belonged to a prominent woman here in Lawrence. Supposedly she was not a very good driver. So her husband, who must have been with the city government, had their street widened so she could turn around.”

SHOE-FITTING FLUOROSCOPE: Discontinued after the 1950s due to safety concerns, the shoe-fitting fluoroscope was a device equipped with a fluorescent screen on which the internal structures of an optically opaque object could be viewed by shooting X-rays through them.

“You step up and put your feet in there to have them measured for shoes. An interesting thing about this was it was used in a local shoe store, then a local artist bought it to use it in his artwork. Then he donated it to the museum,” Phipps says.

HAIR WREATH: “It was a popular craft during the Victorian era,” Phipps explains. “It’s all human hair. We think it’s really morbid today, but whoever made the wreath or who commissioned the wreath to be made, these are probably all of her loved ones’ hair. Potentially it could be someone who had passed away. Sometimes it’s embellished with beads. You could collect the hair and send it off to a company, and they would braid it and make the knots and designs and send it back to you. Or people could do it in their own homes.”

PLAYHOUSE: In 1878, Isaac Newton Van Hoesen built a large playhouse for his second daughter, Lucy. It stood next door to his property at 323 Ill.

“This was an actual playhouse,” Lippincott says. “This was in people’s backyards. It traveled across Lawrence, then the last donors decided to give it to the museum. Kids have played in this since about 1878.”

Phipps adds, “It has working windows. The windows move up and down. It had shutters on it. (What makes it unique) is the workmanship of it, the size of it – it’s not plastic.”

LEO BEUERMAN’S CART: He was only 3 feet tall, deaf, nearly blind and unable to walk, but Leo Beuerman (1902-1974) represented the spirit of determination to many in Douglas County. And the rest of the world learned about the man when he was featured in the 1969 documentary “Leo Beuerman,” which earned an Oscar nomination.

Phipps says, “To earn a living he sold pencils from this cart downtown (in front of what is now Teller’s at 746 Mass.). He is an icon of sorts. Every time people see the cart when we have it out they will stop and tell stories about Leo and what they remember of Leo, where they saw Leo, maybe a pencil they bought from Leo – just lots of stories.”