Rankin Museum gets $20K 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.

Officials from PDE met with board members of the museum Thursday to present a check for $20,000.

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

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

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 member of the museum’s board of directors. Her mother, Marcia Lambeth, is a member of the PDE board.

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

Brett Webb, president of the Rankin board, said there have been discussions over the past year about what needs to be done to the museum.

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

“Right now we’re really grateful because Pee Dee Electric has stepped up and helped us get this $20,000, which is huge, to help us get the ball rolling and get moving toward that renovation project.”

The main planned renovation is for the former Kemp-Sugg Memorial library section the museum acquired 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 to where we can have meetings or events — a multi-purpose facility is what we’re looking at right now,” Webb said, “especially something for children.”

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 organizations in Richmond County 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 collections over his lifetime, according to the museum website.

Rankin moved his practice to Ellerbe from nearby Mount Gilead in 1957 and served the community until he retired in 2001, according to his obituary. The museum was founded in 1984 and Rankin served on the board and participated in daily operations before passing away in 2010.

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

In 2015, space was set aside for an exhibit to honor 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 twice-annual gem mining event at the flume on Saturday, May 25 with time slots open each hour from 9-11 a.m., and a maximum of 25 participants per slot. The event is open for children ages 4-14. To reserve a spot, call 910-652-6378.