TOWER CITY -- Tower City has come a long way since 1868.
"Coming from the area that we live in, there's not a lot here," Sesquicentennial Committee Chairman Doug Buffington said. "So, to be able to provide the area with something they can be proud of, it feels real good."
The borough will be celebrating it's 150th anniversary this weekend. To commemorate the big day, a committee banded together to build a museum. The members did it all in just a few of months.
"It was a situation where one person thought another person was starting it and doing it and nobody did it," Sesquicentennial Committee Member Angie Bixler said. "So, we kind of joined forces in November and we've raised $16,000 so far."
The museum on East Grand Avenue, which the committee calls its headquarters, features photos and other artifacts from over the years. Many of those items were donated by Gladys Deiter who has lived in Tower City since 1955. Her husband was the borough's mayor for 40 years.
"I'm amazed," Deiter said. "I've been keeping this stuff for years. I was here when they had the first one in 1968."
As the committee members look over all the history of Tower City, they can't help but feel immense pride.
"We're all from Tower City," Bixler said. "This is where we grew up. This is where we were born (and) live. (Where we) got married (and) had kids. This is it. Our families are here and this is our heritage and we just want to be proud of it."
The headquarters museum will be open on Sunday starting at 3 p.m. for the sesquicentennial celebration. After that, it will be open three days a week until the end of June.