Historic preservation

The dry wood and poor drainage around these 1890's cabins were evident in this before image (above) .

Guy Waring's 1897 cabin before cleaning, oiling and pest treatment (above)

Treatment in progress:The dark side is where oil has been applied on the Guy Waring "Castle."

Rehabilitation of historic buildings

The Shafer Historical Museum was awarded a Heritage Capital Projects Grant for the 2023-2025 biennium! The $62,000 grant will be matched from donations from Give Methow 2022 donors, the Philadelphia Foundation in honor of Carl Miller, and in-kind gifts of material and labor.

The project will inclue the preservation & rehabilitation of four historic buildings - the Waring cabin (the "Castle", built in 1897), the Ortell cabin (housing the schoolhouse display, 1893), the Nickell family's homesteaders cabin and the "Pioneer Press" building. The work includes:

· hard pathways through the gravel to improve accessibility

· roof replacement on Castle & Ortell cabins

· window and wood log preservation treatment & volunteer education

· masonry rehabilitation

· lighting upgrades & heating installation

Exterior treatments began in September 2022. Both a volunteer service project AND educational, museum volunteers & historic building owners learn techniques and environmentally-friendly treatments for wood restoration and preservation. You can too! Please join the crew - no expertise is necessary!

Volunteers basking in the satisfaction of a job well done.

Chris Gustafson (2nd from right), owner of Vintage Window Restoration in Astoria, OR led Shafer Museum volunteer crews in cleaning and treating three of the historic log cabins at the museum September 16-25, 2022 and worked on the "Castle's" living room windows September 21-23, 2023.