Lewis County Historical Museum President John Panesko, Chehalis, left, directs museum guests to William West's red flag which hangs near the model trains in the Lewis County Historical Museum. Panesko shared the story of how the Chehalis Train Station came to be located in its current location during a museum tour Saturday afternoon.
Sunny skies greeted visitors to the Lewis County Historical Museum celebration Saturday on the occasion of the centennial of the historic train depots in Centralia and Chehalis.
The museum is housed in the 100-year-old train depot in Chehalis, the site of the celebration which also honored the past century of technological advances in communication and industry.
“A lot of people don’t realize how much we’ve advanced, especially younger folks,” said recently hired museum director Johanna Jones, who stepped into her new role in March. “A lot of them don’t realize what people had to go through to get their work done.”
The museum featured displays of everything from collections of sewing machines to cameras, telephones and tractors, vintage boat motors and logging equipment.
A special three-quarter scale boxcar built by museum volunteers will be on long-term display for children to play in. But the majority of the unique technology collections were only on display for this special Saturday.
Inside, a working telegraph, on loan for the day from the Renegade Rooster museum in Winlock, waited for young and old alike to try the short taps and dashes used in Morse Code to send messages.
Sending a telegram is completely unlike texting on a cellphone, at least according to Samantha Berman, 11, of Winlock, who tried to send her name via Morse Code.
“Texting is easier,” she said.
Outside, the Back Porch Swing band played as a couple danced. With clockwork regularity, trains roared past the station on the working railroad tracks, blowing warning horns as visitors practiced holding their fingers in their ears — an attempt at noise reduction that has not changed much in 100 years.
Chehalis postmaster Jade Nevitt and members of the Art Cover Exchange, a club “promoting art, philately, friendship and correspondence” according to a brochure, offered free envelopes for those desiring a special postmark honoring the 100th anniversary of the former Chehalis Railroad Depot. The Chehalis postmark will be available until June 25 at the Chehalis Post Office, for those unable to make it to the Saturday event.
The event also featured the unveiling of the first of six planned information kiosks. The double-sided kiosk features a map showing historic locations, with information about each numbered location featured on the other side.
In keeping with the latest technological advances, the kiosk features a smartphone tag for each location and to highlight area local dining, lodging and events. The kiosk was installed by the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team, which received grant funds to install other such kiosks in the area.
“People can take a look and see where they are at, and where to walk to. We have a wonderful (free) walking guide book people can pick up here and around town, to visit various places throughout town,” Jones said.
Although mostly concerned with preserving history, Jones did take a moment to reflect on what the next 100 years will bring in technology.
“We see a lot of trains go by here every day, and we will be seeing more high speed trains, the European and Japanese style,” she said. “We are already seeing people not tied to their desks and computers.”
Maddison Simpson, 7, of Chehalis, also had a viewpoint on the future. After visiting the museum display where she saw “a carriage that holds people that died” Simpson said she believes that in the future, the main form of communication will be a simple “Howdy!”
She added, “And (writing) letters.”
“We are also seeing a lot of people wanting less technology and an advancement back to a simpler way of time,” Jones pointed out. “And this is a great place to come in and see all that, and to introduce your children and of course yourself to the wonderful history we have in a wonderful, historical building.”
