12
CULTURE & HERITAGE
JUNE 8�15, 2022
CELEBRATING THE HISTORY
OF EASTERN OREGON
Frazier Farmstead Museum reopens with new events
SUMMER FESTIVAL
By Jeff Petersen
For Go! Magazine
M
ILTON-FREEWATER —
After closing for the pan-
demic in 2020, the Frazier Farm-
stead Museum, 1403 Chestnut
St., is springing back to life.
A Native American teepee
was installed last summer in a
tribute to the Cayuse, Umatilla
and Walla Walla tribes that once
inhabited the area. And this
year, on the third Monday of the
month from May through Octo-
ber, 5-9 p.m., Food Truck Night
will be off ered.
Other big events this year
include the June Summer
Festival, spring and Christmas
open houses and the Family
Contributed Photo
Built in 1892, Frazier Farmstead Museum, 1403 Chestnut St., Milton-
Freewater, is again open to visitors.
Fall Festival Oct. 8, which will
feature a centennial celebration
of Mac-Hi with a barn gallery
highlighting graduates and their
accomplishments.
The farmstead is open 11 a.m.-
4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday
and by appointment for group
tours. No admission is charged
but donations are welcome.
Your Hometown Realtor
The Summer Festival is
Wednesday, June 18, 6-10 p.m.
Simply Catering is providing the
meal and Penrose Lane will play
music. There will be a silent auc-
tion, and wine and beer will be
sold by the glass.
During the appetizer hour,
Babe O’Sullivan, heritage rose
expert from Eugene, will talk
about pioneer rose varieties
and highlight the museum’s new
Heritage Rose Garden, featuring
varieties that came across on
the Oregon Trail.
Tickets are on sale now for
$65 per person for this fundrais-
er that covers annual operational
costs. Tickets are available at
the gift shop during open hours,
by emailing frazier1968@gmail.
com or calling 541-938-3646.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Keisha Anderson
Real Estate Agent
541.910.8827
www.bluesummitrealtygroup.com
11am-8pm Tuesday-Saturday
The farmstead centerpiece
is the house built by William
Samuel Frazier in 1892, and
other points of interest include
a 1918 barn, a carriage house
and the McCoy Cabin. Plans
are underway to add a one-
room schoolhouse.
The last Frazier occupants
of the house, brother and sister
Earl “Pete” and Lela, lived there
until 1983. They willed the
estate and its contents to the
Milton-Freewater Area Founda-
tion and established an endow-
ment to make the farmstead
museum happen.
“Half of the items in the
house are their pieces, and half
are historical pieces donated
by community members,” said
Linda Whiting, director, a retired
elementary school teacher.
The restored house and farm
museum is operated and main-
tained by the Milton-Freewater
Area Historical Society.
The museum gets about
1,500 visitors a year. In spring
and fall, grade school children
visit one classroom at a time for
special fi eld trips.
“We like to get young people
interested in and enthused over
our history,” Whiting said.
On a walk through you’ll see
a secretary writing desk William
Frazier brought from Texas over
the Oregon Trail. In the living
room is an Edison wind-up re-
cord player from the 1920s.
Walk up the stairs to Lela’s
room and you’ll see a treasured
quilt her cousin Bessie made at
age 10, before dying at age 11.
In the Commerce Room you’ll
see a picture of Roger’s Can-
nery on the acreage where Gib
Olinger Elementary School is
now. Once 7% of the nation’s
canned peas came from the
area, and the Pea Festival was a
big deal each summer.
Step into the women’s and
children’s room and you’ll see
former Oregon U.S. Rep. Greg
Walden’s grandma Nellie’s wed-
ding dress and a baby carriage
with Shirley Temple dolls.
The military room, mean-
while, honors Fraziers who
served in the military from the
Civil War forward.
The research library room
contains the trunk oldest daugh-
ter Martha brought across the
Oregon Trail.
In the kitchen is a butter
churn that processed 10 gallons
of cream by hooking the churn
to a rocking chair.