Sue Sitter/PCT Marilyn Niewoehner stands next to a reproduction of a hoop dress from the 1860s inside Rugby’s Victorian Dress Museum.

A hidden treasure for fashion history buffs sits inside a nationally recognized historic building in Rugby.

The Victorian Dress Museum in Rugby, located at 312 2nd Ave. Southwest, displays dress designs from the 1860s through 1907 inside the former St. Paul Episcopal Church.

“It’s one of three buildings in Rugby on the National Register of Historic Places,” museum owner Marilyn Niewoehner said. “We have the courthouse, the depot and the Episcopal Church building.”

The church earned a spot on the registry with its unique construction.

Built from fieldstone, the building has windows donated by Holy Trinity Episcopal Parish in New York City.

The windows were assembled from stained glass pieces saved from the parish’s former church building, which had been demolished in about 1903. That church had been dedicated in 1865, just three days after the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

Locals George Ward and a Mr. Warren fitted the pieces together to make windows for the new church in Rugby, according to history gathered by Niewoehner’s husband, Dale.

Work finished on St. Paul Episcopal Church in 1905. Dignitaries from Rugby and the Episcopal Church dedicated the building on Jan. 25 of that year, with temperatures plunging to -25. Construction costs for the building totaled $2,000.

In the 1990s, the Niewoehners purchased the church, long after the congregation had disbanded.

Marilyn Niewoehner turned the building into a place to display a small number of Victorian-era dresses she had received over the years from area families, and several of her own creations.

The museum leads visitors along a pathway past one-of-a-kind pieces featuring pleats, ribbons, bustles and materials of all kinds.

“These garments are reproductions of women’s wear from 1860 to 1907,” she said. “I made them all.

“I have tried to make them as historically correct as possible, using wool, cotton, linen and silk,” she explained. “I’ve achieved that to a limited degree. Some of them, I cheat and use polyester, rayon and acetate, just because I choose not to lay my hands on silk all the time. I use whatever materials I can lay my hands on.

“But,” she added, “There are plenty of historically correct pattern companies available, so I started at that time with a pattern and I tweaked the pattern either to look like a picture in a book or a picture in a photograph.

“I learned how to construct garments in an historical manner,” she said.

“And the Prairie Village Museum is an excellent resource for looking at real garments and how they’re constructed,” she added, noting the Prairie Village Museum displays a dress that once belonged to Queen Victoria of England.

“At the same time, you can’t look at the insides of the garments. You can’t handle the garments to see how they’re made. So, I have plenty of resources for that sort of thing,” she said.

Dresses depicting 1870s fashion have bustles, which are pads and fabric gathers in the back. “I have the bustle underpinnings,” Niewoehner said.

“I have dresses from the 1860s, with a hoop petticoat, a false petticoat and a garment on top of that,” she added.

“Different types of garments have different characteristics,” she added. “Most of the garments are two-piece because the weight of the skirt is too heavy for a waistline seam to hold. So, most of the garments are two-piece. There’s a skirt and a bodice that fits on top of the skirt.”

Pointing out a hoop dress in the museum’s entrance, Niewoehner said, “This is a skirt and bodice from the 1860s. This blouse is interesting in that you can remove the cuff part of the sleeve, which is fun.”

Walking to another wide-skirted dress, she said, “You can understand that if you have a garment that’s 200 inches around the bottom and you gather it up and put it around your waistline, it’s going to poof out everywhere. So, they laid box pleats on top of each other to get rid of all the fullness and kept the bodice flat at the waist. A very nice look.

“Many of the garments have received awards in historical costume contests,” she added. “And that I share to speak to credibility.

“I absolutely had fun making them,” she added. “It’s a challenge making something that has more pieces to it than current garments, so when you’re done, you have a masterpiece. I’m proud of that.”

Niewoehner predicted a return to more formal, detailed clothing styles in the future.

“Fashion comes full-circle,” she said. “We’ll go back to dressing in a beautiful style again. It always comes back. We’re in a slump right now. That will change. We’ll dress beautifully again. In history, there are slumps. You dress beautifully, then things go in a slump. Right now, we’re very casual. We’re in sloppy clothes. We will eventually be in non-casual again. It always happens.”

The Victorian Dress Museum not only has dresses on display, but the multiple layers of undergarments put on before them.

Niewoehner brought the underpinnings to the Prairie Village Museum in 2020 to show visitors the elaborate steps women went through to get dressed in the late 1800s.

She plans to display the same garments at the North Dakota State Fair next year.

Near racks of undergarments, a mannequin displays a bathing suit from the 1890s, which covers most of the arms and legs, reflecting an era that emphasized modesty in dress.

Other items include formal wear and a piece resembling a black brocade dress worn by Medora des Mores, the woman for whom the town of Medora was named.

Two garments feature high, leg ‘o mutton sleeves.

“These were only in style in 1895 through ’96,” Niewoehner said.

“Every time we wear a blouse with a puff sleeve, that comes from this trend,” she added.

Turning to a blouse sewn to represent the style of the early 1900s, she said, “What’s remarkable about this is the kangaroo pouch. This is from 1907.

“I used this photo of the Toftsrud house when Bertha Toftsrud was living there as an example,” she added, pointing to a photo of a woman standing on a porch in a slimmed-down white gown.

The walls of the museum hold antique photos of Americans from various walks of life. Schoolteachers from the early 1900s smile in groups with their photos. Others strike regal poses in portraits.

One, a portrait of Amelia Bloomer, sits behind a pair of the early ladies’ pants she made famous.

Niewoehner also displays several reproductions of wedding gowns, including one with puffy leg ‘o mutton sleeves.

“This is from 1905,” she added, turning to another dress with a puffed bodice and slim sleeves. “It’s made of silk.”

The dress features a bodice with a removable crocheted collar called a dicky, ribbons and embroideries.

I saw a lady in this photo wearing this dress, so I sewed it,” she added, pointing to a picture of a woman from more than a century ago wearing the wedding dress.

“That’s my favorite dress. It was a challenge to make,” she added. “I hired a lady to do the crocheting for me. But it was a challenge.”

Niewoehner also displays five antique dresses, all more than 100 years old, in the museum. Area families donated the dresses.

Even recreations of housedresses from the Victorian era feature attention to detail, with bright floral patterns on cotton cloth and practical pleats to allow for ease of movement.

The museum tour ends with an opportunity to relax in the former church sacristy, repurposed into a parlor furnished with comfortable chairs and antique furniture. Niewoehner offers guests on the tour chocolate, cookie bars and coffee. Refreshments come free with the tour.

“If it’s after 5 p.m., I’d offer a glass of wine,” she added.

The parlor opens out to a courtyard, where Niewoehner plans to plant flowers next year.

“I don’t get a lot of tourists here in my museum, but the people who come in here really want to be here,” she said of the hidden local gem. “And they just love it.”

Tours are available for an admission charge of $5 per person. To arrange a tour, call Niewoehner at 681-1776.

The museum closes for the season “when the cold weather starts,” she said.