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The “Town of Bartlett” Safe at the BHS Museum

TOn Wednesday, September 23, 2026, the latest artifact of Bartlett history arrived at the museum—the old “Town of Bartlett” Mosler safe arrived at our front door. This safe is estimated to have been put into use in the early 1900s. The overall color is dark green. The front door of the safe has a decorative painted border with the “Town of Bartlett” in bold letters on it. From years of use, you can see where people placed their hands in it to close it as the painted border is worn in those spaces. At present, September 27th, we still need to research the full history of the safe, but we can tell the story of how it arrived here.

Going back to 2022, the Bartlett Police Chief approached BHS President, Phil Franklin, and offered the safe to the historical society. It was being used in the police department office to store guns and ammunition, but it took up a considerable amount of space in the department’s small office. It measures 29.25 inches wide by 29.25 inches deep by 63.5 inches tall and the weight is estimated to be about 1,500 pounds. So, think of a refrigerator with steel walls, a combination lock, and wheels that roll but don’t swivel.

Checking with the town selectmen about taking the safe to the BHS museum (that was still two years away from opening), they said they needed to discuss this with the police chief. Also, we didn’t have a place to store the safe so for the time being, we were on hold.

Fast forward to June 2026, Selectman Gene Chandler approached Phil in the parking lot of the Bartlett Village post office and asked if anyone had contacted him about the historical society’s interest in taking the safe. Phil replied that this was news, but we would be glad to take it. Arrangements needed to be made to move this steel box. Contacting the Intervale Safe and Lock company, Phil learned that the safe was too large for them to move. He then turned back to the town asking if the town road crew could move the safe to the building. They agreed to handle that part of the move. He also turned to our BHS General Contractor, Bill Duggan, and asked if Bill could get the safe into the building with the use of his forklift. Bill agreed to help.

Phil took several measures to reinforce the floor of the museum where the safe would be resting. The town crew brought the safe up from their garage where it was temporarily stored. Bill lifted the safe on his forklift and from the road extended his boom 32 feet to set the safe on the floor of the museum foyer. The path to the final placement location was covered with plywood on top of moving blankets to spread the weight of the safe as it rolled into the building and protect the floor. With the aid of three town workers and Phil, the safe finally landed in its permanent display location in the museum. Next steps include cleaning the safe, getting the lock back to working order, and digging into its history.