Illinois Valley News

Dennis Strayer with a Watlings Jackpot machine from the late 1800s. (Photo by Scott Jorgensen, I.V. News)

With diverse exhibits about logging, mining, old technology and more, Kerbyville Museum allows visitors to take a walk through Illinois Valley“s rich history.

Located at 24195 Redwood Hwy. in Kerby, the museum“s mission is to preserve the area“s history and educate people about it. It is the only pioneer history museum in Josephine County, stated Dennis Strayer, chairman of the Kerbyville Museum Board of Directors.

The museum, the land, Naucke House and barn date to 1880, he said. William Naucke purchased the property and had the home built for his family, Strayer said. He also opened a general store at the site that later served as a stage coach stop and a post office.

Naucke died in 1893, at which point his son sold the property.

According to Strayer, only eight families have ever owned the house. The Cooke family was the last to live in it, before they sold the property to the Illinois Valley Federated Women“s Club (IVFWC) in December 1958.

Strayer said that many of the women in that group were related to original pioneers in the valley area.

“They had a direct link to the history of the valley,“ he said. “It was amazing.“

IVFWC hired an architect to design the museum, Strayer said, which was modeled after an old schoolhouse.

In 1960, IVFWC leased the property to Josephine County. It was operated by the Illinois Valley Historical Society from 1995 to “98 on the county“s behalf, he added, at which point the property and museum collections were returned to IVFWC.

Strayer said that by then, many IVFWC members were elderly and less capable of assuming maintenance duties for the facilities.

A meeting was held in August 1998, and a board of directors was formed to run the museum on IVFWC“s behalf, Strayer said. The board spent weekends preparing the museum for its re-opening, Strayer said, which occurred in May 1999.

Doris Boyd, former IVFWC president, was on hand for the ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony. She was more than 100 years old at the time.

IVFWC disbanded in 2004, Strayer said, and deeded the property and buildings to the museum board. Since then, the board has made it a point to try and have at least one project per year, Strayer said.

A restoration of 21 windows in the historic house has just been completed; made possible through a series of grants. Contributors included the state“s historic preservation office and Illinois Valley Community Development Organization.

A dollhouse model of the Naucke House is to return to the museum from the Cave Junction branch of Home Valley Bank within the next few days. Tickets for a drawing to win the dollhouse still are available for $5 each. The drawing will be held July 4 at the IVHS Alumni & Friends reunion breakfast and silent auction at Jubilee Park in Cave Junction.

Another project being eyed right now is digitization of the museum“s historic photo collection. All those images will be downloaded onto CDs and kept in a safe deposit box, Strayer said.

The Bureau of Land Management is working with a contractor for that project, Strayer said, which is in the “paperwork process,“ and set to begin in the winter.

“It“s a pretty major undertaking,“ Strayer said.

He noted that the museum board also is seeking grants to cover the cost of painting the outside of the historic house.

Funding for the museum comes through a variety of sources, including donations and money raised through guided tours. Every year, some 2,500 adults visit the museum, Strayer said, besides some 500 and 1,000 children from area schools.

The museum is open to the public from April to October. Admission is $4 for adults ages 17 to 55. Children 6 years old and younger are admitted free, and persons 56 and older can visit for $3. Admission is $2 for children 5 to 16, and it“s $10 for families consisting of two adults and two or more children.

Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; and noon to 3 p.m. on Sundays. Group visits can be arranged by appointment.

More volunteers are being sought for the museum, which has a training program. Persons 55 and older can volunteer through the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, which provides reimbursement for gas mileage and insurance costs.

Memberships to the museum also are available for $15 per individual or $25 for a business or family. Benefits include free admission to the museum and a 15 percent discount on the history books sold on-site, as well as a free quarterly newsletter.

For more information, phone 541-592-5252.

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