 We would like to congratulate Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek for being selected as the West Liberty Business Association’s January 2024 Business of the Month.
Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek is a museum that is located at 10051 Township Road 47, West Liberty, Ohio. In 2023, the MFH employed seven part-time staff and appreciated the services of 24 volunteers who worked at events and/or the archive at Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek. Margaret Piatt is the CEO and a direct descendant of Benjamin Piatt. Margaret also volunteers her time as the Interim Executive Director of the Mac-A-Cheek Foundation for the Humanities. Kate Piatt-Eckert is the CFO as well as serving as the Director of Mission Sustainability Initiative at Forefront, an Illinois Nonprofit Organization. James White is the Director of Operations and Rentals at the Castle as well as an independent craftsman. Then we have Tony St. Clair who serves as the Literary Collections Curator as well as being a Sales Associate at New York Jewelers in Chicago and an author. Benjamin Piatt acquired his first parcel of land as a payment for legal work from John Enoch in 1817. He and Elizabeth Piatt moved their family to that land east of West Liberty from Cincinnati in 1828. They named their diversified farm Mac-o-cheek which at its largest was 1,700 acres including a sawmill and a gristmill. Their youngest son, Abram S. Piatt, operated 900 acres as a family farm beginning in the mid-19th century. He had reduced his landholdings to 600 acres by the time of his death in 1908. In his estate settlement, his son William received the limestone mansion and 80 acres. William and his daughters Marguerite and Bertie were giving tours of first floor rooms by 1912. Soon after, their brother Mac began repairing cars in the old gristmill and in 1919, William’s brother Rivenoak helped with the tours. When Mac and his wife Kate died in the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic Bertie and Marguerite became guardians for their nephews Bill and Jim. The brothers, along with Bill’s wife, Frances, assumed management of the touring business in 1948. Eight years later, they purchased Mac-O-Chee Castle (built 1879-1881 by Abram’s brother Donn) and named the company Piatt Castles. It was incorporated as Piatt Castles Co. Inc. in 1977. The tourism business was begun by 1912 under the name of Piatt Castle Mac-a-cheek in a Piatt family home which was built between 1864 and 1871 of local limestone from a small quarry on what was then part of the Piatt family farm. The Mac-A-Cheek Foundation for the Humanities (MFH), a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization was founded in 1997 to increase visitor services. Its mission is to promote research and educational experiences through historical life stories, period cultures, and the natural environment. In 2022, the MFH assumed responsibility for producing public programming at Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek, under an operating agreement and lease with Piatt Castle Co. Inc. which retains family ownership of the land, building, and contents. Piatt Castle shareholders, Margaret Piatt and her daughter Kate Piatt-Eckert sold Mac-O-Chee Castle in 2019. Margaret and her husband Jim White are an on-site presence at the museum. All four family members help in different ways and collaborate with the Mac-A-Cheek Foundation for the Humanities. Today some of the 80 acres is in a conservation easement through the Department of Natural Resources, some is farmed through a long-term arrangement with Barger Farms, and a Victorian landscape still remains surrounding the house museum. As one of several attractions in the area, Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek helps to draw visitors to West Liberty where they shop, eat, and refuel. The museum offers a relaxing park-like space for residents to enjoy for free. Multiple free outdoor events and at least one day of free admission are offered every year. Discounts to tour Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek are offered to individuals 65+, AAA members, groups of 20 or more, programs for WL-S students, and through MFH memberships. We offer employment and volunteer opportunities. Our visitors are amazed to learn that seven generations of one family have lived on the land, five in the house named Mac-A-Cheek, and four of those generations lived in the building while it was open for tours. Although it is not unique for a family to have a business at their home or to live on their farm, it is very unusual for a public museum to be in a private home. Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek offers facilitated self-guided interpretive tours, youth day-camps, adult workshops, as well as collaborations with teachers and group leaders to design custom programs. They offer free outdoor events on a wide range of topics, many of which are created through collaborations with other non-profit organizations. The property is available to rent to individuals and groups for weddings, parties, and other events. Beginning in 2024, they will be offering lodging for rent at Piatt Cabin, the reconstructed log home where the Piatt family first lived. Margaret volunteers time to the West Liberty Historical Society in the development of the Bailey House History Center and she coordinates activities with the West Liberty Business Association Events Committee and 2024 Total Solar Eclipse program planning. She volunteers as a Lunch Buddy at WL-S. They shop locally whenever possible and enjoy introducing friends from a distance to their colleagues, friends, and neighbors in West Liberty. Their visitors tell them they appreciate the enchanting setting, outstanding craftsmanship and interesting architecture, friendly and engaging interactions with staff, a focus on discovery of multiple subjects, and a chance to think about their own family histories. They are often surprised and appreciative by the family connection on the land continuing for over 200 years. When not working they enjoy visiting and eating out with family and friends, attending plays, touring other museums, parks, and cultural organizations, travelling, reading, writing, watching favorite TV shows, listening to music, appreciating the nature that surrounds us, working on projects, and going to the Y. Margaret lists her favorite thing about owning a business in West Liberty is collaborating with other tourism-based businesses to draw visitors to our community. She also says her favorite thing about West Liberty is the bucolic charm and visitor amenities. Margaret would like to point out “The Shawnee people who named this land appreciated their lives and community here. We respect and honor their history and hope that it can be told on this land by their descendants. We no longer present folklore created by European-Americans (including the Piatt family) as a valid history of the Shawnee people who lived here. We recognize and admit that the continuous use of the Shawnee place name with Anglicized spellings by the Piatt family is a form of cultural appropriation.” The work of the non-profit Mac-A-Cheek Foundation is made possible by a volunteer board of directors, admission fees and product sales, members who receive benefits, individual donors, sponsorships and business donations, and grants from local, regional, and state agencies. The office phone number is 937-465-2821. Their hours are as follows: Spring: 10:00 – 4:00, weekends mid-April through late May (In 2024, they will be open a week early on April 5, 6, 7 and 8 due to the Total Eclipse.) Summer: 10:00 – 5:00, daily beginning Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend Fall: 10:00 – 4:00, weekends after Labor Day until the end of October There will be an award presentation held on Jan 2 at 9 am. Again, congratulations to Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek! Written and submitted by: Brenda Snyder, WLBA Secretary |
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