Spokane Valley Heritage Museum celebrates 20 years of preserving history

Twenty years ago, shortly after the city of Spokane Valley incorporated, the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum opened. Since then, museum founder and director Jayne Singleton has spent all her time preserving the unique history of Spokane Valley.

The artifacts, photos and maps the museum holds date back 150 years and though it’s the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum, it also holds historical items from south Spokane County, Millwood and Liberty Lake. The photos and documents offer a glimpse into the time when the area was known for its apple orchards and Heart of Gold cantaloupes.

Around the time the city incorporated, Singleton was working for the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce planning an anniversary celebration for the organization. She realized there was no one place she could go to find historical photos and documents.

“There wasn’t one spot,” she said. “There wasn’t a repository. Where are the photos? Where are the oral histories? Where are the artifacts? There was just no ignoring it.”

The lack of preservation of local history pulled at her and she found she couldn’t just move on.

“It wouldn’t go away,” she said. “Finally I embraced the opportunity to establish the museum.”

There was a building on Sprague Avenue just west of Pines Road that Singleton thought would be perfect for a museum. Formerly the Opportunity Township Hall, it was vacant and boarded up even though it was on the Spokane Historic Register. It was clear the building didn’t fit the rest of the local architecture, Singleton said.

“The building captured my attention, it’s unique architecture,” she said. “It looks like Spanish Colonial mission-style architecture.”

Spokane County had owned the building for years. It was conveyed to Spokane Valley when it incorporated, along with county-owned parks inside the new city limits. Singleton said she talked to the new city manager about using the building and found that the city had no interest in leasing the building and being a landlord. The city gave the building to the museum.

“It was a win/win for both of us,” Singleton said. “It is our largest artifact.”

From the beginning, the museum has been well received by local residents, quite a few of whom have showed up with boxes of historical photos and other documents from the family attic. The entire collection of photographs has been digitized for preservation and public access, with the originals stored in a fire safe.

“We continue to digitize,” she said. “We’ll never be done. Photos are always being donated.”

The large photography collection draws people doing historical or family research.

“We sell a lot of photos,” Singleton said. “That’s one of our main revenue streams.”

Singleton said people can usually find what they need in the vast photo collection.

“We have over 14,000 photos,” she said. “I love our collection.”

The museum owns a lot more artifacts than it can display at one time and some of them are quite large.

“A longtime Valley family has given us storage in an outbuilding where we keep our farming implements and fire truck,” she said.

Though the museum is a healthy repository of Spokane Valley history, it also hosts traveling exhibits. The goal is to always have something new when people visit, Singleton said. The newest traveling exhibit, which just opened, is the American Revolution Experience put on by the American Battlefield Trust and the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Though Singleton works to find local ties to the national history exhibits that visit the museum, that wasn’t possible in this case, she said. The exhibit includes interactive digital kiosks in addition to artifacts and primary accounts of the time.

“You get an in -depth look at the dynamic and what was going on,” she said. “It’s a good way to look at something that’s so significant, the birth of our nation.”

The museum will celebrate its 20th anniversary at its annual Heritage Program fundraiser. This year’s presentation is titled “On a Wing and a Prayer: The History of Felts Field.” In addition to the presentation there will be desserts, a silent auction and raffle. The event is set for 1 p.m. Nov. 9 at the CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Place. Tickets are $25 and are available at spokanevalleymuseum.com.