…Continued from Grand Gallery Exhibits.
Mount St. Helens by Paul Kane
Mount St. Helens by Paul Kane, from the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.
T. Gilbert & Company Square Piano
This is a square piano made by T. Gilbert & Company of Boston, Massachusetts. Square pianos were first made at the turn of the 19th century.
T. Gilbert & Company Square Piano
Due the their shape, square pianos have a very narrow harp, giving them a poor quality tone. They were also difficult to repair and do not retain a tuning for very long. They were mainly used as a conversation piece for wealthy families.
Mixsell & Company/N.P.B. Curtiss Square Piano
This square piano was made by Mixsell & Company of New York. It also bears the name of N.P.B. Curtiss of New York. It was once owned by Dr. Hiriam Leavens, the first physician in the Columbia River Gorge. Leavens was born in Onondaga County, New York in 1824 and got his medical degree there, later moving to Iowa and then Illinois where he met and married Miss Pluma St. Ores in 1849. They eventually had four children. Dr. Leavens came overland to Oregon in 1852 and fought in the Indian wars of 1856. He moved his family to the gorge in 1859, settling at the old garrison at Fort Cascades at the Lower Cascades, now North Bonneville, Washington. From 1859 to his retirement in 1886, Dr. Leavens was the first and only physician from White Salmon, Washington west to Vancouver and Troutdale.
Mixsell & Company/N.P.B. Curtiss Square Piano
Dr. Leavens purchased this piano in Portland. It had arrived from the east coast via Cape Horn, and was shipped by steamer to Dr. Leavens' home at the Lower Cascades. A tuning date of 1842 is recorded on the piano, suggesting it had previous owner. Apparently, no one in the Leavens family played the piano and a pianist was hired for special occasions.
Mixsell & Company/N.P.B. Curtiss Square Piano
Dr. Leavens died May 7, 1906 three years after his wife, at the home of his daughter Mrs. Ada Ridenour in Cascade Locks, Oregon. His only son, Turner Leavens, inherited the piano, and he sold it to Mrs. Grace Sams-Walker of Skamania, Washington. She donated it to the museum in 1977. The piano cabinet and stool were restored with donations from the Mid-Columbia Family Health Center and Martin Hecht of Stevenson, Washington.
Community Gallery
The Community Gallery was financed in part by a generous donation in memory of Frank E. and Joan Wittenberg, Home Valley, California. It contains various items belongs to individuals from the area.
View of the Hegewald Timber Company
This photo shows a view of the Hegewald Timber Company, Inc. which occupied the current site of the museum from 1952 to 1973.
Gold Balance
This gold balance from around 1930 is an instrument used to measure small amounts of material, particularly related to mining. It was donated by Luella Rehfuss of North Bonneville, Washington in memory of her husband, William Rehfuss (1901-1987).
Charles Lindbergh Spirit of St. Louis Memorabilia
In the foreground is a Charles Lindbergh souvenir bank donated by Josephine Towers who in sixth grade with Louise Kirpatrik saw through a window of Stevenson Grade School a plane she believes was the Spirit of St. Louis fly over Stevenson and under the Bridge of the Gods. In the background is a model of the Spirit of St. Louis hand carved by Henry Peyrollaz of Carson, Washington that was a favorite toy of his sons Bertil and Johnnie.
Marx M-10000 Tinplate Train
This gallery of vintage toys includes a Marx M-10000 tinplate train.
Marx M-10000 Tinplate Train
1924 Theater Piano
This theater piano from around 1924 was originally played in a silent movie theater. Enos Browitt won the piano in a raffle in 1938, and his daughter, Joan Ann Browitt Schupbach, inherited it.
Statue of Kazeon-bosatsu, the Japanese Goddess of Mercy
This statue of Kazeon-bosatsu, the Japanese Goddess of Mercy, from around 1600, is holding a treasure representing happiness, joy and good health. It was donated by Rev. & Mrs. Ohki of Home Valley, Washington.
Household Items belonging to Baron Eugene Ferson
The museum has a number of household items belonging to author and philosopher Baron Eugene Fersen, a Russian who settled in Washington.
Household Items belonging to Baron Eugene Ferson
Among the items belonging to Fersen pictured here are a bronze Japanese incense burner from the Meji period of 1868-1912, a copper shield by Cellini, inspired by a sketch by Michaelangelo: Soldiers Bathing in Arne, from around 1514, paintings by Russian artist Baron Pavel Romanovich Medem from around 1880, a French cabinet with inlaid woods, bronze ormolu trim & porcelain inserts from around 1890 and jewelry belonging to Fersen's mother, Baroness Olga de Medem (1842-1928).
Household Items belonging to Baron Eugene Ferson
More items belonging to Fersen include a case clock of red mahogany made by Grand Rapids with German works from around 1906 and a Swiss cabinet with a variety of inlaid woods that is approximately 200 years old and was used by Fersen to store linens.
Donald A. Brown
(Skamania County Historical Society)
Donald A. Brown (1895-1975) of North Bonneville, Washington helped found the Skamania County Historical Society in 1926 and helped reorganize it in 1959. He also did historical research on the Columbia River Gorge and wrote newspaper columns about local history.
Don Brown Rosary Collection
Brown also collected Roman Catholic rosaries, or prayer beads. The beads of the rosary are used by Roman Catholics to keep track of the number of times a prayer has been recited. On each of four large beads a person recites the Lord's Prayer, fifty small beads call for reciting "Hail Mary's," prayer to the Virgin Mary and the dangling pendent beads represent the cross and call for the Apostle's Creed. Similar beads are used by other religions including Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam.
Don Brown Rosary Collection
Brown's collection of nearly 4,000 rosaries and other religious artifacts is the world's largest rosary collection and led to the creation of the museum.
1875 Pump Organ
This pump organ from around 1875 was a gift to Don Brown from the St. Paul Catholic Church in St. Paul, Oregon.
1940 Quilt by Marguerite Peyrollaz
This hand-stitched full size quilt was started in 1934 and completed in 1940 by Marguerite Peyrollaz for her younger brother John. It features squares embroidered with designs of various types of boats including a square-rigged clipper ship in the center. It is on loan from John & Cloida Peyrollaz of Carson, Washington.
1976 United States Bicentennial Quilt
The 1976 United States Bicentennial Quilt was sponsored by the Skamania County Historical Society. Twenty-two county women created this album quilt which features the Bicentennial logos for the nation, state and county and blocks inspired by photographs, family records and books that were displayed in local store windows as they were completed.
1989 Washington State Centennial Quilt
The Washington State Centennial Quilt was sponsored by the Skamania County Historical Society. Thirty local women made this album quilt in public view at the Stevenson Library from 1986 to 1988. In February 1989 it hung in the rotunda of the Washington State Capitol in Olympia, Washington.
This concludes the original content of my Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum PLACES page. To see any additional blog entries about Stevenson, Washington, click on the Stevenson label.
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