Gig Harbor’s History Museum

Sunday, 27 May 2018
Gig Harbor RV Resort — Gig Harbor, Washington
Temps: 73F (23C) / 47F (8C)

The Fishing Seasons
Fish for salmon in summer and fall,
Gather sardines when winter winds call.
Anchovies school off warm winter coasts,
Pull Dungeness crab with January boats.
Turn on your night lights and go seining for squid,
All through the year, they wiggle and jig.
The most elusive of all are down in the deeps,
Where the halibut roam and the black cod sleeps.
~ Anonymous ~

Friday was to have been our day for sightseeing.  But we had to jiggle our plans when the replacement of the CR-V’s rear brakes took a little longer than expected and the work lagged from Thursday through the end of the day on Friday.

After two days at home — with short walks in and around Gig Harbor to get us out of the house — and a day of shopping in nearby Bremerton and Silverdale on Saturday, we were ready to do something fun today.

Thursday … The DAY MIGHT BE OVERCAST, BUT reflections ADD CHARM TO THE HARBOR SCENE.

What a difference a day makes … before picking up the car from the brake shop on Friday, we walk around to the other side of the harbor and are rewarded with this panoramic view.

But surely we did not want to be driving on Memorial Day Sunday!  No problem — Gig Harbor has a museum within a 10-minute walk from the campground … the Harbor History Museum just off Harborview Drive on the waterfront.

The little white school house and the boat in the shed are both part of
the museum exhibits.  But the reason why I’m including this photo here …
check out Mount Rainier visible through the back of the boat shed.

This is a small regional museum that focuses on the heritage of the area … with particular attention to maritime history … no admission, but donations welcome.  Its stated mission is to “…create opportunities to experience the heritage of the greater Gig Harbor communities.”  To that end the museum exhibits a collection of preserved items, including an 1893’s schoolhouse that was moved here in 2009.

One of the many heritage exhibits in the permanent collection gallery.

The Gig Harbor area has always been home to a wide diversity of life — both in the sea and on land — that has sustained human existence for several millennia.  The permanent exhibit focuses on the heritage of the peninsula … from the Native American tribes that initially lived here to the immigrants who later moved here.  There were interesting artifacts, interactive computer screens, and even some hands-on exhibits that were fun to check out.

Puyallup Indian women at a temporary hunting and fishing camp.

Left: Skilled weavers crafted vessels for cooking, carrying, and storage.
Right: Rattle top basket made of maiden hair fern root (Tlingit; Alaska).

Steamboats like Victor, pictured here in the 1890s, carried passengers,
freight, and livestock to the waterfront communities of the Puget Sound.

Tap dancing shoes and an embroidered Croatian saying are also part of the permanent exhibit.

Galloping Gertie, as the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge was known, is an inherent
part of the history of the area.  On the left are parts thought to be from the bridge
that was destroyed by a gale in 1940 … on the right are memorabilia commemorating
the opening of the bridge in July 1940.  By early November, the bridge was no more.

At one of the interactive exhibits, Mui takes a rubbing of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

Next we checked out the special exhibit — Salmon, Seiners, and Life on the Sea — which tells the story of commercial fishing “through the saga of a fish boat named Avalon.”  The vessel, launched in 1929 and operated by the Skansie family for over 60 years, is typical of purse seiners that fished these waters.  It sank in the Hood Canal in 2015, but parts were saved from the wrecking ball … so to speak.

This wheelhouse and a few other artifacts are all that remain of the Avalon.

Our visit then took us out to the boat shed behind the museum to take a peek at the Shenandoah — another vessel that was a purse-seiner.  Like the Avalon, it was built by the Skansie Shipyard … this one in 1925.  Records indicate that it was on the water as late as the latter years of the 1990s.

the docent we spoke to said the restoration plan for the Shenandoah has recently been changed.  Instead of fixing up the entire boat, they are going to restore one half to what it would have looked like in its heyday.  The other half is going to be sealed and left the way it is to show its current state.  What A stark contrast it will indeed be when the work is done.

Even though the Shenandoah is essentially a construction site, we were told it was OK to go aboard it.  There’s not much to see … both the forward and aft decks are blocked off for restoration work … no access below decks either.  We did get a quick look at the wheelhouse.

The wheelhouse of the Shenandoah in three shots … the steering mechanism; the captain’s quarters; and the galley (not pictured is the dining area, which is to the right of the galley).

The Midway School was the last exhibit we checked out.  The one-room schoolhouse is currently used for a special pioneer school experience for which the museum has won an award.  Third and fourth grade students get to see and feel what it was like to go to school in 1901 … no computers or iPads for sure … just slate boards and blackboards and chalk instead.

A classroom circa 1901.

Leaving the museum, we were delighted to see the sun was still out … the sky still blue … and Mount Rainier out in full glory.  We extended our outing with a wander around the waterfront to enjoy the spectacular views before returning home, where we spent the rest of the afternoon on our quiet patio.

The selfie seems to throw Mt Rainier further into the distance …

… this is closer to what we saw with our own eyes.

For more photos from the museum, check out my online gallery … scroll forward starting with this image.

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