Snoqualmie Valley Historical Society

THE SNOQUALMIE VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY VOLUNTEERS AND ON EMPLOYEE OPERATE THE SNOQUALMIE VALLEY HISTORICAL MUSEUM THAT DISCOVERS, COLLECTS, PRESERVES AND INTERPRETS THE HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NORTH BEND AND ITS ENVIRONS. THE MUSEUM NORMALLY OPERATES YEAR ROUND, BUT IN 2021 WITH THE PANDEMIC, THE MUSEUM HAD TO BE CLOSED TO INTERIOR VISITS UNTIL MAY 2021 BUT WAS FULLY REOPEN TO WALK UP VISITORS IN JULY 2021. OUR MUSEUM CURRENTLY HOUSES OVER 20,000 OBJECTS, BOOKS AND ARCHIVAL RECORDS, OVER 12,000 HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS AND OVER 100,000 PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVES. THE MUSEUM IS ALSO OPEN VIA APPOINTMENT FOR SPECIAL TOURS FOR GROUPS. IN 2021 MUSEUM STAFF QUICKLY AND EXTENSIVELY RESPONDED TO NUMEROUS EMAIL INQUIRIES IN ADDITION TO SERVING WALK UP VISITORS. THE MUSEUM PROVIDES EXTERIOR EXHIBITS FOR VISITORS TO THE PARK WITH OUR FARM SHED EXHIBITS AND ADDITIONAL INTERPRETIVE PANELS ON THE EXTERIOR OF THE BUILDINGS. APPROXIMATELY HALF OF THE MUSEUM'S VISITORS ARE FROM THE SNOQUALMIE VALLEY, WHILE THE OTHER HALF ARE TOURISTS CONSISTING OF DAY TRIPPERS FROM THE LARGER PUGET SOUND REGION, OUT-OF-STATE VISITORS AND INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS. FROM APRIL TO AUGUST 2021, 232 VISITORS SIGNED THE MUSEUM VISITOR GUEST BOOK. WE HAVE EXPANDED THE EXTERIOR EXHIBITS IN RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC, AS THERE HAS BEEN AN UPTICK IN VISITORS EXPLORING OUR EXTERIOR OFFERINGS DAILY. THE MUSEUM PROVIDES A PUBLIC RESTROOM IN THE GARDINER WEEKS PARK. THIS YEAR THE MUSEUM SPENT OVER $6,700 REPLACING THE FLOORING, TOILET AND SINK IN THE BATHROOM; REPAINTING; AND ADDING HOT WATER TO PROVIDE A BETTER VISITOR EXPERIENCE FOR TOURISTS AND VISITORS. IN 2021, THE MUSEUM CONTINUED TO SUPPORT SPECIFIC GOVERNMENT AGENCY PROJECTS BY PROVIDING RESEARCH, MAPS AND IMAGES. THE NUMBER OF INQUIRIES GREW IN 2020 AND 2021 WITH THE PANDEMIC AS THE MAJORITY OF THE REGIONAL ARCHIVES WERE CLOSED. BECAUSE THE MUSEUM WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN OUR STAFF ON SITE, EVEN WHEN CLOSED TO INTERIOR MUSEUM VISITS, WE WERE ABLE TO SERVE RESEARCHERS AND PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO ADDITIONAL NUMBERS OF RESEARCHER WHO WOULD NORMALLY UTILIZE OTHER ARCHIVES. THE MUSEUM WORKS WITH LOCAL RESIDENTS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN GENEALOGY, THE HISTORY OF THEIR HOMES, THE HISTORY OF THE COMMUNITY, AND WHO OFTEN WANT TO USE HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS AS PART OF THE DÉCOR OF THEIR HOMES AND BUSINESSES. THE MUSEUM HAS SEEN A STEADY INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WISHING TO ACCESS HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS AND IN 2021 TYPICALLY SERVED SEVERAL CONSTITUENTS A WEEK SPECIFICALLY ORDERING COPIES OF IMAGES. THE MUSEUM WORKS WITH REGIONAL PARTNERS SUCH AS THE CITY OF NORTH BEND, SNOQUALMIE VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE KING COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM, THE MOUNTAINS TO SOUND GREENWAY, THE SNOQUALMIE VALLEY RECORD, THE SAVORSNOQUALMIEVALLEY.ORG WEBSITE, THE AMERICAN LEGION, THE SNOQUALMIE TRIBE, FALL CITY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE CEDAR RIVER WATERSHED. WE PUBLISH TWO NEWSLETTERS EACH YEAR, AND WE PUBLISH AND SELL BOOKS ABOUT SNOQUALMIE VALLEY HISTORY. THE SNOQUALMIE VALLEY HISTORICAL MUSEUM REACHES PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD AND CONNECTS THEM TO THE HISTORY OF NORTH BEND AND THE GREATER SNOQUALMIE VALLEY. WE DAILY POST ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER. WE CURRENTLY HAVE 5,166 FOLLOWERS ON FACEBOOK AND TYPICAL WEEKS OUR POSTS REACH OVER 14,000 PEOPLE. WE CURRENTLY HAVE 587 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS, 35 YOUTUBE FOLLOWERS AND 6 TWITTER FOLLOWERS. IN THE FIRST 8 MONTH OF 2021 WE HAVE HAD OVER 11,000 VIEWS OF OUR WEBSITE FROM OVER 6,700 VISITORS. OVER 500 OF THOSE WEBSITE VISITORS HAVE BEEN FROM OTHER COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD.