PORT ANGELES — Exhibits about firefighters, the construction of the Elwha River dams and artifacts from post offices in Clallam County fill the Museum at the Carnegie’s first floor.
In a revamped bottom floor, the museum at 207 S. Lincoln St. in Port Angeles now features a collection of smaller displays rather than a grand room of one large display.
The museum is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays with a suggested donation of $2 for adults and $5 for families.
The downstairs is an area for rotating displays, said Kathy Monds, executive director of the historical society.
New exhibits opened Thursday.
Gate City
In one display case in the large meeting area are items from the Port Angeles Fire Department — once known as the Gate City Fire Department.
Hats and badges — one dating back to the early 1900s — are also featured, Monds said.
On the other side of the room, the evolution of communication equipment is on display.
Everything from a telegraph to a telephone has a spot, she said.
In another room, an exhibit documents the construction of the two dams on the Elwha River, which is west of Port Angeles.
The Elwha Dam, completed in 1913, and the Glines Canyon Dam, built in 1927, will be torn down beginning in September, with the demolition to be completed by September 2014.
The $351.4 million project, which is intended to restore salmon runs, is the largest of its kind in the nation’s history.
“There is a lot of information out there on the ecological side of things right now,” Monds said.
“But we are focusing more on what an amazing feat it was to have constructed the dams.
“It was the early 1900s, and it really was an amazing thing to accomplish.”
Heart of community
Another display case tells the tale of the bygone post offices of Clallam County.
“I went through looking for them, and there was a list of, like, six pages of post offices,” Monds said.
“Now it has really dwindled, but they were truly the heart of the community at one time.”
Everything from a post office made from the stump of a tree near the Elwha River to others scattered around the rural county are documented.
A store featuring “previously enjoyed publications” is also available for those looking for used books. The money will go to the Clallam County Historical Society.
Other gift-type items are also available for the first time since the gift shop in the museum’s downstairs closed two years ago.
“Another thing we are trying to do is to have a table set up where people who are doing research can come and sit,” she said.
“We keep a very limited library here of local-interest books.
“If someone is in need of some of those, we want to have an area where they can sit and learn.”
Permanent displays
In addition to all the new features on the bottom floor of the building, the permanent displays are also available to learn about the people of Clallam County.
Information on the tribes of Clallam County abound with stories told in the native languages available to listen to — with English translations available to read along.
Among the stories of settlers are those of Minerva Troy, Dok Ludden and other people in the county.
Troy came to the North Olympic Peninsula with her father, who was a doctor for the Puget Sound Cooperative Colony.
She married John Troy, who became the territorial governor of Alaska.
But Minerva Troy did not want to leave Washington state, and she stayed in Port Angeles and dissolved the marriage, raising her two children on her own.
Some of her hand-painted pieces are on display at the museum.
She started an operetta company, sold hand-painted china in a downtown shop and joined the Red Cross at the start of World War I.
Minerva Troy was also the first woman in the state to run for Congress, though she was unsuccessful.
Ludden was another citizen who exemplified the name of the upstairs permanent display, “Strong People: Faces of Clallam County.”
Ludden lived in Geyser Valley near the Elwha River Valley and lived off the land.
Hunters would sell elk teeth to be used on trinkets such as watches, one of which is on display.
Some elk-hide shoes of Ludden’s are also available for visitors to see.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.