Snoqualmie Valley museum tells tales through artifacts and copies
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Fuzzy may have lost some of his fuzz, but none of his charm.
The stuffed bear cub still enchants visitors of all ages at the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum in North Bend. Children used to climb atop Fuzzy's back, but these days he resides safely inside a glass display case.
That's one of the problems with historic displays, said Dave Battey, a local historian and one of the many volunteers who keep the museum running. "How do you show people what things were like and still conserve the real thing?"
At this museum, one of the oldest in King County, they do it by mixing copies, hundreds of genuine artifacts and photographs from the late 1880s to 1990s in small vignettes and display cases spread over four public rooms.
Just above Fuzzy, for example, hangs an early 1900s photograph of a giant grizzly bear that had been shot by the first forest ranger in North Bend, "Cougar Pete" Peterson. An old gas pump stands in a vignette of a gas station and garage from 1912; another scene depicts a 1945 general store. The background in the latter two are old photographs that have been reproduced on giant vinyl banners.
The most popular room seems to be the 1912 country kitchen, Battey said. A cupboard contains canned vegetables, many with local labels from the valley's former agricultural heyday as a commercial canning center. There's also an old stove, a crank-operated telephone and early appliances, which touring schoolchildren delight in identifying.
"The kids get a kick out of this room, particularly the glass milk bottles," he said.
An early record player, missing some parts, sits in a parlor scene. Some of the displays contain copies of items that are damaged by exposure to light.
"We can copy old labels, early telephone directories, and old photographs like Bill Fury in front of his livery stable or Capt. (George) Gove on his steamboat and put them on display while protecting the originals," Battey said.
Even the walls tell tales. Cedar planks lining the Native American room reflect the traditional wood used in Native American longhouses in the area.
"If you look closely, you can see these were cut by a circular saw out of Western red cedar," Battey said. "That's exactly the cut and kind of wood used in early schools around here."
The museum limits its displays to items that were used in North Bend, Fall City, Preston or the Snoqualmie area — and fittingly sits on land once owned by Jeremiah Borst, known as the father of Snoqualmie Valley, and then by Will Taylor, who platted North Bend.
In the farm shed next to the main museum are other large treasures, including a Native American cedar-log canoe, early farm implements and a big garage door dated 1891. A recent addition is an old mayor's desk from Snoqualmie.
A number of pieces in the collection, as in most museums, are not on display. Included in that list are diaries from early settlers, a rifle used here in 1864, and the register from the old Hop Ranch Hotel built in 1884 to 1886. Hotel guests who signed the book include Peter Kirk (founder of Kirkland), A.A. Denny and David Denny (Seattle founders) and Henry Yesler (Seattle pioneer).
Although the museum celebrates its 65th anniversary this year, its roots stretch back to the 1920s when former schoolteacher Ada Hill Snyder became friends with early settlers, interviewing them and writing down their stories.
In 1939, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of North Bend, Snoqualmie and the state of Washington, Snyder collected objects for a temporary historical display at North Bend High School. She kept adding to the collection, cataloged each item, rotated the displays and gave tours to visitors. The temporary home lasted until 1960 when the museum moved to a building near the library.
Today's museum was born in 1976 when the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Society signed a contract with the city to use a house moved out of the path of the Interstate 90 construction. Hill came from her retirement home in California for the 1979 dedication.
The renovated house — the museum's home today — sits in Gardiner Weeks Park.
Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com
IF YOU GO
The basics: The museum is located at 320 North Bend Blvd. S. in North Bend. Hours are 1-5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Admission free but donations welcome. More information at www.snoqualmievalleymuseum.org or 425-888-3200
Top attractions: A 28-foot Native American cedar log canoe hangs in the farm-implement shed. A miniature longhouse in the main museum building was crafted by former museum director Greg Watson. And check out the period clothing on the mother and son in the kitchen scene.
Biggest surprise: The Museum's Corner Store (inside the main building) has area history books not available elsewhere, T-shirts imprinted with local historical scenes and an assortment of postcards made from old pictures including the first airplane crash in the Snoqualmie Valley from the early 1900s.
Little surprise: The planters in front of the farm-implement shed contain hop plants — once a major cash crop in the Fall City/North Bend area.
Who runs it: Although the museum had a part-time director from 1991 to 2000, it has been run by volunteers ever since. Volunteers include dedicated people such as Dave Battey, 64; Dale Sherman, 53; and Gloria McNeely, 85 — all valley residents with a passion for local history.
Getting there: Head east on Interstate 90 and take Exit 31. Turn north onto North Bend Boulevard (also called Bendigo Road) and go by the outlet mall. The museum will be on the right after you cross a small bridge. The brick-red building sits halfway between the mall and North Bend's downtown main street — a spectacular setting with Mount Si to the north and Rattlesnake Ledge to the south.