Cheney Museum has many stories to tell

The Cheney Historical Museum's website's "Welcome" message speaks to it having "the best qualities of small-town America; a friendly, informal place where you are encouraged to look, linger, have a conversation, ask questions."

Even the briefest conversation with museum director Joan Mamanakis will confirm that and should probably whet one's appetite to learn more about local history.

The museum celebrates a milestone 80th birthday in 2015, having opened in 1935. Turn back the clock to that year and one could buy a new car for $625, but America was still locked in the Great Depression so that was just a dream for many.

Locally, Cheney celebrated resident Clarence D. Martin becoming Washington's first native born governor, serving from 1933–40, but from 1928–1936 he was also Cheney mayor.

That and much more is found in the building located at 420 First St., a place with plenty of its own history. The building, erected in 1890, first housed the Korte General Store, was later Tubbs Newsstand and other businesses.

But now it houses hundreds, if not thousands, of tidbits of the history of Cheney, Four Lakes, Tyler, Marshall and Amber.

"We're very specific about it needs to be able to relate to our history or be something that would have been used here," Mamanakis explained.

The pioneers had a sense of the importance of how they lived their lives and insisted that memorabilia be saved, "Because the young people today don't know what we went through," Mamanakis said.

To celebrate the milestone year, the museum has dusted off items it displayed when it first opened. Those include certificates from when Cheney was the Spokane County seat. The museum collection was started by the "Tilicum Club," a women's service organization. 

The 1935 collection includes cooking utensils, guns and a homemade bow and arrow crafted by Marcus Campbell, a well-known hunter and gun expert. But he was also a gifted musician who played in a number of bands with his handmade violins.

Mamanakis singled out the headlamp from Dr. Francis Pomeroy's carriage. He used it to guide his way to make house calls in the dark. The story goes, however, his horse could find its way home from anywhere he visited, so Pomeroy didn't even need to be awake, Mamanakis said.

The oldest known piece of the exhibit might be a spinning wheel that came to the area on a wagon with the Tyler family, Mamanakis said. John and Laura Tyler arrived in the fall of 1880 from Illinois.

This is not the same Tyler for which the community west of Cheney is named, however. "Tyler as a town has a different type of origin," Mamanakis said.

When the Tylers arrived in Cheney the town was described as being, "Scattered houses in the trees and campsites on the hill," Mamanakis said. The hill is where present day Eastern Washington University is located.

Another notable display is that of home entertainment of the time consisting of a piano, a music box from about the 1890s, a Thomas Edison phonograph, and others, including a cabinet from 1915. "It's 100 years old (and) still works," Mamanakis said.

Mamanakis, a member of the Cheney High School Class of 1972, has been with the museum for 11 years. But her involvement has deeper roots with her mother having been part of the Tillicum Club.

She first volunteered in 2004 when the museum was located in the Wren Pierson Building. When a pipe broke she offered her muscle and went about moving things out of harms way.

The next thing she knew, Mamanakis was discovering more Cheney history than she ever thought existed. "The closest thing they ever taught in Washington state history was Steptoe Butte."

With this great understanding of the area's history, and the desire to share it, Mamanakis would like to offer this message.

"We've been here for 80 years and the museum has been run entirely by volunteers, by donations - we don't get money from the city or state - and right now were are in real need of both."

Later this summer a special pictorial history of Cheney will be published and Mamanakis would love everyone in Cheney to stop by and pre-order their copy, which should help in the mission to keep the city's past alive and well in the present.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected] PAUL DELANEY

Staff Reporter

The Cheney Historical Museum's website's "Welcome" message speaks to it having "the best qualities of small-town America; a friendly, informal place where you are encouraged to look, linger, have a conversation, ask questions."

Even the briefest conversation with museum director Joan Mamanakis will confirm that and should probably whet one's appetite to learn more about local history.

The museum celebrates a milestone 80th birthday in 2015, having opened in 1935. Turn back the clock to that year and one could buy a new car for $625, but America was still locked in the Great Depression so that was just a dream for many.

Locally, Cheney celebrated resident Clarence D. Martin becoming Washington's first native born governor, serving from 1933–40, but from 1928–1936 he was also Cheney mayor.

That and much more is found in the building located at 420 First St., a place with plenty of its own history. The building, erected in 1890, first housed the Korte General Store, was later Tubbs Newsstand and other businesses.

But now it houses hundreds, if not thousands, of tidbits of the history of Cheney, Four Lakes, Tyler, Marshall and Amber.

"We're very specific about it needs to be able to relate to our history or be something that would have been used here," Mamanakis explained.

The pioneers had a sense of the importance of how they lived their lives and insisted that memorabilia be saved, "Because the young people today don't know what we went through," Mamanakis said.

To celebrate the milestone year, the museum has dusted off items it displayed when it first opened. Those include certificates from when Cheney was the Spokane County seat. The museum collection was started by the "Tilicum Club," a women's service organization. 

The 1935 collection includes cooking utensils, guns and a homemade bow and arrow crafted by Marcus Campbell, a well-known hunter and gun expert. But he was also a gifted musician who played in a number of bands with his handmade violins.

Mamanakis singled out the headlamp from Dr. Francis Pomeroy's carriage. He used it to guide his way to make house calls in the dark. The story goes, however, his horse could find its way home from anywhere he visited, so Pomeroy didn't even need to be awake, Mamanakis said.

The oldest known piece of the exhibit might be a spinning wheel that came to the area on a wagon with the Tyler family, Mamanakis said. John and Laura Tyler arrived in the fall of 1880 from Illinois.

This is not the same Tyler for which the community west of Cheney is named, however. "Tyler as a town has a different type of origin," Mamanakis said.

When the Tylers arrived in Cheney the town was described as being, "Scattered houses in the trees and campsites on the hill," Mamanakis said. The hill is where present day Eastern Washington University is located.

Another notable display is that of home entertainment of the time consisting of a piano, a music box from about the 1890s, a Thomas Edison phonograph, and others, including a cabinet from 1915. "It's 100 years old (and) still works," Mamanakis said.

Mamanakis, a member of the Cheney High School Class of 1972, has been with the museum for 11 years. But her involvement has deeper roots with her mother having been part of the Tillicum Club.

She first volunteered in 2004 when the museum was located in the Wren Pierson Building. When a pipe broke she offered her muscle and went about moving things out of harms way.

The next thing she knew, Mamanakis was discovering more Cheney history than she ever thought existed. "The closest thing they ever taught in Washington state history was Steptoe Butte."

With this great understanding of the area's history, and the desire to share it, Mamanakis would like to offer this message.

"We've been here for 80 years and the museum has been run entirely by volunteers, by donations - we don't get money from the city or state - and right now were are in real need of both."

Later this summer a special pictorial history of Cheney will be published and Mamanakis would love everyone in Cheney to stop by and pre-order their copy, which should help in the mission to keep the city's past alive and well in the present.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].