Perkins House receives boost with Chamber move

When the calendar flips to 2016, the Perkins House will have some new occupants. The Colfax Chamber of Commerce Dec. 30 will move into the house to run their day-to-day business, enabling the Perkins House to be more open to the public.

“Our first official day will be January 1st,” said Colfax’s Unified Executive Director Valoree Gregory.

Gregory said she will stage her office right off the front entryway and be available to give tours of the house for interested parties.

“It is a place for me to sit and so we can have the Perkins House open,” she said. “We are helping each other out.”

The move will save the Chamber rent and will benefit the Whitman County Historical Society with staff for the house. The group has maintained the house for several years, and they have been calling for volunteers to help the house stay open for tours and to maintain the property.

Theresa Dale, who is the Perkins House coordinator and also maintains the grounds with Frank White, said this is an exciting move.

“It is going to open it up and make it a lot more available,” she said, also noting that there is a five-year plan to get the yard and gardens improved and a five-year plan to re-organize the house.

Cheryl Kammerzell, treasurer for the Whitman County Historical Society, told the Gazette in August that the group had unsuccessfully been seeking local volunteers for two-and-a-half years and the house could close if volunteers could not be found.

“The board is at the point where it is going to be a warehouse,” Kammerzell said in August. “We are not going to try to make it available for tours when there is nobody to give a tour.”

Dale noted that the few people who had been giving tours were overwhelmed.

Former WCHS board member Dave Appel said the Chamber move is exciting.

“We view it as a win-win for both sides because we will be able to have the Perkins House open several days a week,” he said.

The historic house was built in 1886 by Colfax founder James Perkins and was the center of Colfax society between 1886 and 1920. Perkins had previously resided with his wife and four children in a log cabin on the grounds, which he built in 1870 and now stands as the oldest building in Whitman County.

Perkins settled in the area in 1870 with Thomas Smith. The two had been sent here to find a site for a sawmill. Colfax soon became the first non-Indian settlement in the Palouse region.

The historical society had been having trouble recruiting local members, but Appel told the Gazette that this has changed in the last few months.

“We have picked up several new members in the historical society from Colfax which shows local interest,” he said.

As of right now, Gregory said she has not decided on set hours for when the house will be open to the public, noting that she will be at the house for her regular work hours but also needs to get work done. She said she is currently thinking about 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for open tours.

“Eventually we will get set hours, especially during the summer,” she said.

Dale said she sees this move as an opportunity to help educate the community about Colfax’s roots and to remember the work of Perkins.

“We are hoping to turn it back into something the Perkins family would be proud of as a teaching tool,” she said.

Dale is hoping to put together an open house for after the new year, once Gregory is settled in.

“We want to put together an open house once Val gets there for people to meet Val, Frank and I and get comfortable with us,” she said.

Dale also noted that there are improvements needed on the grounds, with the interior of the house and with the foundation. She said being in the public eye more with this move will hopefully allow the historical society to receive more donations and also to be able to put more time into the house as they continue to gain volunteers.

“We want to bring it to the forefront and make it such an addition to the downtown,” she said, noting she is also hoping for more events at the house. “I’m looking forward to it being a gem for Colfax.”