Old West artifacts yield $2.7M for Harrisburg
The mayor of Harrisburg, Pa. spent millions in public money on everything from six-shooters to covered wagons for a museum about cowboys, Indians and the Wild West. And he did it without telling the City Council, whose members felt as if they had been hit by the swinging doors of a frontier saloon when they found out from a reporter in 2003. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
The auction of thousands of Old West artifacts purchased by a former Harrisburg mayor for a failed museum project has netted about $2.7 million for the city as it tries to recoup the money spent on the collection.
The Patriot-News reports the auction ended Sunday with around $3.2 million in proceeds. The city will keep about $2.7 million, enough to pay off the $2.5 million remaining on a $7.2 million loan.The sale means the total recouped by the city for the 10,000-piece collection is about $4.4 million out of about $8.3 million paid.Former Mayor Stephen Reed bought the artifacts to fill three unrealized museums, with the first focused on the Old West. They include hundreds of guns, furniture, documents with historical significance and a stuffed buffalo.
WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.