Rankin Museum receives $20,000 from Pee Dee Electric, CoBank

ELLERBE — The Rankin Museum of American Heritage will be able to “get the ball rolling” on planned renovations thanks to Pee Dee Electric.

PDE officials met with museum board members Thursday to present a check for $20,000.

PDE CEO Donnie Spivey said the electric cooperative does business with CoBank, a Colorado institution that has a “Sharing Success” program in which the bank will match charitable contributions to the community.

Nonprofits cannot apply directly for the Sharing Success program, but CoBank customers can, according to the bank’s website. Since 2012, more than $86 million in combined donations have been made.

CoBank and Pee Dee Electric each contributed $10,000.

Spivey said the Rankin renovation project was brought to PDE’s attention by Meghann Lambeth, Richmond County tourism director and a member of the museum’s board of directors. Her mother, Marcia Lambeth, is a PDE board member.

“Fortunately, we were awarded that grant and Pee Dee matched that, so today is our check presentation … to get their project started,” Spivey said.

Brett Webb, chairman of the Rankin board of trustees, said there have been discussions over the past year about what to do with the museum.

“We haven’t had … a facelift or any kind of renovation since we opened,” Webb said, adding that those upgrades can be expensive.

“Right now, we’re really grateful that Pee Dee Electric stepped up and helped us get that $20,000, which is huge, to help us pop the bubble and move toward that renovation project .”

The main renovation planned is for the former section of the Kemp-Sugg Memorial Library, acquired by the museum in 2020. The library was moved to the former Fidelity Bank building.

That area, Webb said, will be a community space.

“We want to have it where we can have meetings or events — a multipurpose facility is what we’re looking at now,” Webb said, “especially something for kids.”

Webb said there are also plans to give both the interior and exterior of the building a facelift.

Last year, the Rankin Museum was one of several Richmond County organizations to receive a Share to Care grant from PDE.

The museum is named in honor of the late Dr. Pressley R. Rankin Jr. and was founded based on his lifelong collections, according to the museum’s website.

Rankin moved his practice to Ellerbe near Mount Gilead in 1957 and served the community until his retirement in 2001, according to his obituary. The museum was founded in 1984, and Rankin served on the board and participated in day-to-day operations before he died in 2010.

The Rankin Museum features natural and local history exhibits as well as Native American culture.

In 2015, space was allocated for an exhibition honoring the late Andre the Giant. In 2023, the museum hosted A Giant Celebration in recognition of the professional wrestler. Click here to read about that event.

The museum is hosting its bi-annual gem mining event at the canal on Saturday, May 25, with slots open every hour from 9am to 11am, and with a maximum of 25 attendees per slot. The event is open to children between the ages of 4-14. To reserve a seat, call 910-652-6378.