Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
With an old sledgehammer head for a doorstop, the McCoy Valley Museum in Oakesdale will be open more this summer after an infusion of new board members in its 24th year.
Museum president Dennis Palmer said the sledgehammer head will be in place every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Memorial Day to Labor Day.
The museum began in 1987 as a one-time collection for the 100th anniversary of the town. At the time, the museum had about 25 members. Since then many have moved, died or dropped out.
It was down to four members this winter.
“That’s not enough to operate it,” said Del Gregory, 88, a charter member along with his wife Nina. “We have 11 now, including one young one in junior high, who also happens to be my great-granddaughter.”
The building was previously owned by farmer Jim Fanning, who donated it for the museum.
The two long rooms of artifacts, tools, machines, photographs, city records and more consist of many items on loan from local families.
Things on display include a steamer trunk which Oakesdale settler George Cove hauled across the Isthmus of Panama before the Panama Canal was built. His commanding officer was Ulysses S. Grant.
“A lot of them got cholera and died on that trip too,” said Gregory.
A new item on its way for the summer of ’12 is a metal sign for “Alexander & Davidson,” a turn of the century Oakesdale clothier. It was donated by a couple from Spokane Valley.
A few years ago, Terry and Barbara Werle came through town and noticed the museum, which was closed. Dennis Palmer, also the mayor, happened to be on-site, and Terry asked if it could be opened.
Palmer unlocked the front door and they’ve stayed in touch.
Earlier this year, the Werles came upon the “Alexander & Davidson” sign at a Tacoma antique store. They bought it and donated it to the McCoy Museum.
Palmer soon located an Oakesdale News edition from 1900 which showed an ad for the store.
Town’s changes
Gregory, born west of Winona in 1923, has been in Oakesdale since age 5. He spent 37 years as head of maintenance at the school. Since retiring in 1986, he’s been involved with the museum, often as an on-site volunteer.
“So many times we’d sit here all day and nobody came in,” he said.
“And that may happen this year,” said new board member Dolores Haley. “But if we’re open every Saturday from Memorial Day to Labor Day, people will know that for next year too. You have to be open for people to come.”
Over time, visitors have come in from Japan, South Africa and Russia.
The museum operates on its own money, holding bingo events twice per year as fundraisers.
The hall, which includes several long tables over a wood floor in the front room, is also available for rent at $35.
All told, the museum depicts the story of a burgeoning place.
“It was a lot bigger town then,” said Gregory.
“Did we have a barber shop?” asked Haley.
“We had three barber shops,” said Gregory.
“Did we have a drugstore?” asked Haley.
“We had three drugstores,” Gregory said.
“How about a Chinese laundry?”
“Not in my time, but they did earlier.”
The museum building was once a grocery store and a lawyer’s office.
“Even had a duckpin bowling alley in here at one time,” said Gregory.
His own brushes with history include flying on C-47 cargo planes in China-Burma for the Army air corps in Wolrd War II.
His deceased brother’s B-17 flight uniform is on display in the museum.
Gregory made the sign above the entry out of a garden gate.
Now, to go with it and advertise the new open days, Dennis Palmer and volunteers Dick Brown and Bob Hooper are making sandwich boards for the sidewalk.
The McCoy committee meets on the second Tuesday of each month.
“The more members in it, the better,” said Palmer.
Future direction
Mayor Palmer began his involvement in the McCoy museum in earnest.
“The first meeting I went to they voted me in as president,” he said.
That was six years ago.
“It’s really been touch and go with our museum,” he said.
He’s excited to see the new involvement after putting out a call last year for more board members.
New officers include Gail Parsons as vice president and Heather McIntee, secretary/treasurer. The board includes Lavelle Gardner, Del and Nina Gregory, Haley and Jake Dingman.
An immediate goal is to raise money to replace the oil stove used to heat the building.
“We’re looking at going with an electric furnace in there,” said Palmer of the cost-saving venture. The price is estimated between four and five thousand dollars.
He said that he would also like to make an addition to the museum’s bylaws to add items from outlying towns, which may be too small to have a museum of their own.
Palmer also indicated there are more items which could be moved into the museum, space permitting.
“There are so many things from the school district, such as trophies being stored in a bus barn,” he said. Palmer would like the museum to one day move into the old hotel in town.
“I would love to see the museum be able to get that,” he said.
Palmer has lived in Oakesdale since 1956, except for three years in the Marine Corps and a short time in Spokane.
“When I was in high school there were six places in town to buy gas,” he said. He graduated in a class of 24 in 1960.
Palmer participated in a broad piece of history himself, as a crew member on an LSD-5 landing ship dock in a blockade off Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Their cargo included landing ships, trucks and amphibious tractors.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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