Following green light from the state, Quincy's museum opens its doors again
The sun shines into the antique Pioneer Church, the first church built in the region, which over the years has housed congregations from many different Christian denominations. Though it would often host an old-fashioned Christmas service most Decembers, it's unclear whether the small intimate gathering will be permitted if the pandemic hasn't waned by then.
Emry Dinman/Columbia Basin Herald
Director of Operations Harriet Weber works the accordion shelving units that house much of the Quincy Valley Historical Society's archives, including many objects that are 100 years old or older.
The Reiman-Simmons House, originally built at the beginning of the 20th century, is the cornerstone of the Quincy Valley Historical Society and Museum. While it is original to the site, many adjacent features such as the windmill were moved here to replace structures that couldn't be restored. The building is wreathed by flowers planted by resident and master gardener Lana Lubach, while the lawn connecting the different buildings is regularly trimmed by Tom Snyder, both of whom are among the many volunteers who support the facility.
QUINCY — Though the doors usually open in March, the Quincy Valley Historical Society and Museum opened for the year over the weekend, shortly after getting approval for limited operations from Gov. Jay Inslee.
Welcoming a few visitors during the weekend, the site, originally a 20-acre farmstead built at the beginning of the 20th century by German-Russian emigres Samuel and Katherine Reiman, is home to artifacts of the community’s history and an homage to the area’s agricultural roots.
“People have come to see this sort of like Quincy’s gem,” said Harriet Weber, Director of Operations, whose own family has roots in Quincy stretching back more than 100 years.
The Reiman-Simmons House, filled to the brim with turn-of-the-century objects and a newly finished exhibit, is original to the site, while other pieces have been transported or built around it over time, including a windmill and summer kitchen. The Pioneer Church, the first church built in the area, was similarly transported to the site from a few blocks away, its roof removed so it could be moved beneath power lines.
The site’s newest facility, the Heritage Barn, celebrates the region’s historical and contemporary connection to agriculture, and hosts the historical society’s archives, full of photos, documents and relics from the region’s first residents. The barn also provides a space with activities for school children ranging from videos and games to interactive, augmented reality displays.
While there’s plenty for adults to read or interact with on the site, the focus on engaging children is intentional, Weber said. For the last 15 years, every Quincy student in the third grade spent part of the school year learning about their city’s history, culminating in a field trip to the museum, she said.
“We’re now having weddings where people came on the third-grade field trip when they were little,” she added.
The historical society is a labor of love, both for its small army of volunteers which can swell into the 70s for large events, Weber added, and for the donations of artifacts and funding that community members pour into it.
This year, however, the site remained closed for months longer than expected. In March, when the museum typically reopens for the year, the extent of the pandemic in the state and the closing of businesses and facilities like the museum were shocking, Weber said in an interview.
“We couldn’t believe it, and like everybody we thought it was only going to be for a short time,” she said.
By April, however, it began to be clear that the pandemic was not going to be a flash in the pan. Weber and others with the historical society looked for different ways to serve the community while their doors remained closed, and among other things landed on Monday Music at the Museum.
Each week, the historical society invited local musicians into the Pioneer Church, where their performances were livestreamed on social media. While yesterday was the last performance for the time being, it will also mark the 16th livestreamed concert in the church since the pandemic began.
Weber and other volunteers also used the lull in visitors to catch up on organizing their archives, which, like those of most small-town historical societies, is bursting at the seams with objects discovered in attics, basements or estate sales.
“We still have years ahead of us,” Weber said of the archive, laughing.
Now, with a recent announcement by Inslee that museums can reopen with 25 percent capacity, Weber hopes to be able to invite the public back into the spaces she and the volunteers have worked on. In the Reiman-Simmons House, a new exhibit greets visitors with a history of the site and of Quincy, helping to put the images and objects found inside into their historical context. The occupancy limit set by the state is unlikely to cause any issues, Weber added, given their typical volume of attendees and the size of the buildings.
However, some things still aren’t back to normal. The upper half of the Reiman-Simmons House, with four bedrooms each “adopted” and cared for by different local families, is still off-limits due to concerns about what regular sanitizing could do to the antique stairwell. For similar reasons, many of the activities for children also are not available.
In addition, almost all events are also on hold, with the fate of others later in the year unclear as the county grapples with a surge in coronavirus cases, Weber said.
But one event scheduled for this month is still in the works: the Valley Visions Juried Art Exposition, showcasing landscapes and faces of the Quincy Valley in multiple art forms, where artists of all ages will display their work in the Heritage Barn Sept 4-12.
The Quincy Valley Historical Society and Museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Quincy Farmers Market, which has been located on the historical society site this year, will also be open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the first and third Saturdays of September.
