Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Jefferson Valley Museum preserves the past for the future. Photo by Catheirne Ellerton
How did Whitehall come by its name? Who owned the first car in Whitehall? Who was the first woman elected to the National Congress who also taught school in Whitehall?
These and many other questions are answered within the walls of the Jefferson Valley Museum. These answers and stories were shared with close to 600 curious friends this season. They came from over 30 cities within 25 states and Canada, Germany and India. They came to learn the story of that Smoke Stack that stands so serenely watching over Whitehall. They came to learn about the CCC camp that stood at the west end of town and the Parrot Castle that stood to the south.
They came gathering history about their family background and how exciting that is to be able to help join those pieces together. From the daughter who came to learn of her father, Porter Johns, cowboy singer, stuntman and double who was well-known for his song "So Blue I Could Cry;" who was reunited with the family history in the Pony/So. Boulder area. To those who came to pay homage to a family tree that spans generations and life stories from the beginning of this small Western town.
In addition to continuing to gather artifacts from families that lived in the area such as the Violin-Uke, the calf weaner, the pencil drawing of the Barn drawn in 1987-88 by William Reel, the Museum volunteers were able to gather further information on those artifacts within the Barn's walls from the visitors.
It has been a busy, happy season which runs from Memorial Day through Sept. 15th. The volunteers are always happy and willing to host visitors during the off-season also.
The Barn received a new facelift over the past winter and the Walk of Names and Lewis and Clark Sign were upgraded. During the off-season months the volunteers continue to document the many artifacts – well over 1,000 to date and to increase the photo and genealogy files. If the reader enjoys sharing stories and keeping those stories alive, the Museum staff always welcomes new volunteers.
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