The Shelby Little House                    

The history of the Shelby Little House began in 1939 when members of the Shelby Girl Scout Council wrote articles that were published in the Shelby Daily Globe. These articles described the council's need for a meeting space for the growing number of local Girl Scout troops, as they were meeting in various locations like troop leader's homes, church basements, and other locations. But because of the steadily growing number of the troops, the Shelby Girl Scout Council found it necessary that these girls acquire a community meeting space of their own. Seeing this need and taking an interest in it, Anna R. Fish donated two city lots for the local Girl Scouts to use and build on.

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The council decided to hold a variety of events to help generate funds for the purchasing of more land and the construction of the Little House. They wrote articles announcing a drive for funds and published them in the Daily Globe, as well as held bake sales, set up donation tables at banks, invited local organizations to donate funds, and held card parties in homes, all to raise funds for their goal. They managed to raise enough funds to purchase more land for their community meeting space. They purchased additional lots from Carl Stambaugh, John Cole and Robert Daugherty, F. L. Gump, W. Briggs, and Viola Myers for a total of $1,100.

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With these lots, the Shelby Girl Scout Council set forth to build their 'lodge'. The council, and Mrs. W. R. Bussom, signed a contract with Stacy S. Haun in 1940 for the construction along with architect Walter Harrison Smith. Smith designed the Little House after the house from the 1937 Disney Movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The contract stated that construction on the lodge must begin on April 10th, 1940, or as soon as possible after that date and that the construction should be finished within 75 days. Along with this, the contract stated that the contractor would be paid $4557.50, which included the heating, sewer work, gas installation, and water service to the building. With this contract, the Girl Scouts were set to begin to build. But, not without a groundbreaking ceremony first! The local Girl Scouts planned a groundbreaking ceremony for the lodge, with songs performed by the troops, a blessing by a local Reverend, and Taps played at the end. Although originally planned for April 21, 1940, after a postponement, the groundbreaking ceremony officially happened on May 5, 1940. From there, the work on the lodge began, and after a few short months, the building was completed. The Shelby Little House, or the Girl Scout Little House, was built and ready for use.

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In honor of the lodge being built, the Girl Scout troops in Shelby held a dedication program for the house. This dedication was on September 8, 1940, and officially opened the Little House for local troops and the community. The house was put to use first by Shelby Troop 1, who held the first meeting in the lodge. Since then, the Little House has also been rented and used as a community meeting place, not only for Girl Scout troops on the weekdays but for events such as birthday parties, community dances, graduation parties, showers, family reunions and a variety of other events. 

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In 1979, the Shelby Little House Board wanted to establish a trust fund for the Little House to ensure its future financial needs would be met. A committee was comprised of James Kehoe, George Jones, Doris Weber, Doris Dick, and Betty Jones. To fundraise for this trust fund, Elvanor Straw wrote a brief history of the Little House and sent it to James Kehoe. He then thanked her for her writing in behalf of the board, and the Little House board then met to discuss how to establish the trust fund.

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To raise awareness, they decided to publish Elvanor Straw's history in the Daily Globe in an effort to establish a trust fund. Along with this, a painting of the Little House done by Kinley Shogren was placed in the Marvin Memorial Library to help further publicize the efforts of obtaining a trust fund for the Girl Scout Little House. James Kehoe also wrote letters and articles about the establishment of the trust fund, requesting funds and aid to help preserve the Shelby Little House's legacy. In the end, the committee was able to establish the trust fund with various gifts from donors, ultimately reaching the board's goal of $28,000 and preserving the future of the Little House.