Once again we managed to find a museum a few days after it had closed for the season. We believe it is open from April through October.
The museum began as a single room display at the Chewelah Fun Fair in the summer of 1965. From that it continued to grow and two individuals, Walt Goodman and his niece, Dorothy, beginning with what they had in 1965, eventually had a whole building full of
photographs and memorabilia from the early days of Chewelah and area. The museum is now mostly housed in a large building in downtown Chewelah. I say "mostly" because they have many more artefacts than can fit within its walls. The overflow is housed under cover beside the building and itself comprises quite a collection of items representative of Chewelah's early days. The items are from the days of manual labor, of breaking the sod with a horse drawn single bottom plow, of hard rock mining with sledge hammers and drills, and of doing the wash with a tub and a washboard.
We definitely have to return when the museum is open, to see the goodies they have on the inside.