Grunwald named new administrator of New Madrid Historical Museum

Jeff Grunwald poses for a photograph outside the New Madrid Historical Museum. Grunwald is the new administrator of the museum. (Jill Bock, Staff)

NEW MADRID -- Jeff Grunwald may be heading up a history museum but he is getting an education in geography.

Grunwald, who was named administrator of the New Madrid Historical Museum on Sept. 1, noted visitors to the town's museum this year have come from 45 states, 16 foreign countries and five continents. From Armenia to Australia and New Brunswick, Canada, to the Netherlands, he said, they have made a stop in New Madrid to visit the Museum, located adjacent to the Mississippi River at 1 Main St.

"Many of them are on the riverboats, of course, but a lot of people just stop in," said Grunwald, who keeps a list of the visitors' hometowns. "That keeps it pretty interesting."

Typically what draws them to the museum is the series of earthquakes, which began in 1811, and rumbled all the way to the East Coast. Others find their way to Southeast Missouri because of an interest in the Civil War and the community's role in the conflict, he said.

Grunwald said many of the visitors are unsure of what the local museum will offer.

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