Tag Archives: museum

Mary Olson Farm, updated May 2016

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When I bought tickets for “Outlaw Days,” I wasn’t sure what it was. But the tickets were only $5 each and I’d heard so much about the Mary Olson Farm in Auburn and the activities there, I thought I couldn’t miss. Although “Outlaw Days” aren’t on the Farm’s calendar this summer, plenty of other activities are.

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Every Saturday and Sunday, from noon ’til 5 p.m., June 25-August 28, you can tour the farmhouse, meet up-close-and personal with the cows, chickens and donkeys and even bring your picnic basket full of goodies to eat on the grounds. That’s all free.

Also, at no cost, let the kiddos, ages 3-12, participate in a themed activity hour any Wednesday in July at 10:30 a.m.

But the piece de resistance must be the overnight stay, July 15 and 16, for those 7-12 years of age. Visit Overnight for details and to register.

The Farm holds numerous events throughout the summer including summer camps for kids, group tours, concerts and special events like “Outlaw Days.” A project of the White River Valley Museum, the Farm originally operated as a subsistence farm. In 2011 it was restored to its current state and opened to the general public. The interior of the house is furnished just like an old farm house.

Friday Harbor’s San Juan Historical Museum Reveals Vivid Local History

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"The worst county jail in the state of Washington."

When I’ve driven by this place in the past, I thought the museum was only the one house I saw behind the sign. So I’d never made the time to check it out as a full-on history museum. I was blown away by what I saw this past week, because the entire museum is not one building, but eight, the grounds cover 1.6 acres and the place tells fascinating tales of San Juan Island history.

Paper mache replicas of farm women doing needlework around the kitchen table.

Currently located on the James King farmstead property, each of the eight buildings – a carriage house, a milk house, a barn, the Scribner log cabin, an old shed, the resource center, the farmhouse and the first county jail – lets visitors discover what island life was like over a century ago. The two-level farmhouse was built in 1894 (29 years after the civil war) and housed three bedrooms upstairs. In later years it was turned into a rooming house for teachers. Filled with furnishings and items you needed to live, the farmhouse stirs memories of simpler days.

At this time in history, there was no organized ferry service in Friday Harbor – that won’t happen for another thirty years. The 1887 territorial census says 550 residents lived in all of San Juan County. The James King farmhouse was recently completed and 72 years later it became a part of the San Juan Historical Museum.

Let’s talk a little more about the jail. They always seem to depict at least some of the character of a place. It was originally built near the Court House in 1894 and cost $234.50. It had three cells and an office. From the 1890s until 1971 local lawbreakers were locked up here until it was declared “the worst county jail in the state of Washington.”

At that time it was turned into a storage shed. During its reign as county jail its most notorious guest was Richard Straub who hanged on the lawn outside the jail in 1895 – San Juan County’s only execution.

Throughout the different buildings you’ll find artifacts like “noiseless” typewriters, adding machines, a wheelchair and an old switchboard. One display is a turnkey for twisting out aching teeth which really looks like an instrument of torture. Two original horse-drawn carriages, the rudder from a shipwreck off Hannah Heights and so much more dating to the turn of the century.

Bring a lunch to enjoy on the outdoor picnic tables.

Plan ahead to partake of the many activities the museum offers through out the year.

For more information, visit:  www.sjmuseum.org or call 360.378.3949.

Tour or Stay at Brown’s Point Lighthouse

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Stove in the museum at the Brown's Point Lighthouse Keepers Cottage.

On a recent Saturday I took a tour of the Brown’s Point Lighthouse and Cottage in Brown’s Point, led by Barbara Heimers. She was visiting from the east coast for her niece’s wedding, which was set to take place in a few hours in front of the lighthouse with an up-close view of the beach. To keep herself busy, she deeply researched the lighthouse so she could voluntarily lead the free tours that afternoon and she gladly shared that knowledge with visitors.

The Brown's Point art deco Lighthouse.

Open Saturdays, between 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. from March through November, these tours cost nothing. Although by now Barbara has returned home, many other knowledgeable guides also lead the tours.

History

In 1887, a lantern hung from a post at Brown’s Point warning ships that they were approaching the entrance to Commencement Bay. Then in 1903 a wooden light house was built, also to warn ships and it needed a lighthouse keeper.

Oscar Brown and his wife, Annie, became the first lighthouse keepers at Brown’s Point that same year. They arrived with a cow and a piano. Their daily tasks included keeping the kerosene light burning and the fog bell ringing (Brown’s Point is one of the foggiest places in Washington, so this was very important), and Oscar kept a journal of daily activities plus gave music lessons to the neighborhood children. In 1939 Oscar retired and the United States Coast Guard took over the Lighthouse Service. At this time almost everything in the lighthouse became automated.

A kind of living museum has been established in the basement of the cottage showcasing many of the furnishings of life in the early 20’s times like an ice box, iron, treadle sewing machine and so much more.

The three-bedroom Brown’s Point Lighthouse Cottage rents for $800 a week, but guests must take over some of the Light Keeper’s duties – daily maintenance, conducting tours, raising and lowering the U.S. flag and making daily entries into the light keeper’s log book.

Barbara thought the appeal of lighthouses had to do with a reminiscence of simpler times

When people had to help others and everything wasn’t done by computers.

Whether you choose to stay in the cottage (available from May – October) or not, a tour is well worth your while. For information or reservations, visit www.pointsnortheast.org.

And it’s right on the beach.