COQUILLE VALLEY MUSEUM SPECTACULAR
I A SENTINEL PUBLICATION- page 2
Henry A. Schroeder
Serving the communities of
Coquille and Myrtle Point
Elbert Schroeder
with a personal touch.
finding/Schroeder ¡FuneralService, not only offers a com
plete line of funeral service, but also many related services
including Headstones, monuments and a genealogy library that
includes records dating baclfto 1926.
Started when ¡Henry fi. Schroeder decided to add the funeral
service as part of the family owned furniture store, his son
‘Elbert managed it. Elbert's son-in-law, Ernest finding
acquired the business in 1986 who at that time added finding
to the name. ‘When finding retired in 1999, the business was
managed by Jay ‘Westrum who purchased the business in 2003.
‘Westrum and his wife, ¡Michelle, live in ¡Myrtle ¡Point with
their daughters ¡palón, ¡Miranda and fibigad.
225 N. Birch • Coquille • 396-3846
404 Seventh Street • Myrtle Point • 572-2524
.------- T—------------------- --------- ------- J---------- - ------- ----- —------ —
Bob Taylor helps visitors at the Coquille Valley Museum, located at 153 N. Central,
during a recent Saturday. The museum is run by volunteers and is self funded.
Admission is $2 or free with the purchase of a Coquille Historical Society
Membership. The museum is open each Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Additional information about the museum exhibits and the historical society can be
obtained online at: museum.coquillevalley.org.
Coquille Valley Museum becomes a reality
SENTINEL STAFF COMPILATION
History is an important part of
every community. Just take a walk
through downtown Coquille and
inspect the buildings from the early
1900’s. Each neighborhood has its
own homes with historic ties to the
“old days”.The schools speak of
generations of youth passing
through the halls. Buildings, busi
nesses, and city properties also have
their own stories of beginnings and
changes through the years.
In fact, one of the earliest
Coquille settlers built a cabin on the
land that is across the highway from
the Broiler building. Even Sturdivant
Park had an alternate purpose, serv
ing as the Sitka Spruce Mill during
World War I, where mill workers
endlessly converting lumber into
frames for planes used in the war.
However, even the most rich histo
ry can become faded with time, espe
cially when there is no central loca
tion for people to learn about how
things used to be. Coquille, along
with the rest of the valley, needed
these tidbits of the past collected,
cared for, and shared with those who
want to learn about local history.
In March of 2005,The Sentinel
reported on the initial efforts to cre
ate the Coquille Valley Museum, a
project spearheaded by individuals
who were interested in preserving
Coquille and the surrounding val
ley’s past. Retired businessman and
Coquille citizen Bob Taylor and
Coquille Library’s Jordi Lindegren
worked together with the Coquille
Chamber of Commerce to begin
collecting photographs, postcards,
high school albums, advertisements
and memorabilia from yesterday. The
Coquille Valley Historical Society
began meeting with fresh vigor, dis
cussing and planning for a museum
site and adding to the membership
with volunteers who were commit
ted to making the museum happen.
In November 2005, organizers
announced the Coquille Valley
Museum’s new home.The former
site of Taylor’s Sports Shop, located
at 153 N. Central, was being spruced
up and renovated to house all the
donated historical materials.
The Coquille Valley Museum
held its first public open house
right before Christmas, Dec. 20-23,
2005. By that time, the museum
could enjoy the rewards from a
year’s worth of effort, displaying an
interesting selection of logging and
carpentry tools, farming equipment,
and photographs of everything from
early settlers to coal miners and
workers from the logging era.
The museum is a gift to the com
munity and organizers plan to keep
accepting items, striving to reach
eventual goals of changeable exhibits
that will give visitors-a fresh look at
history upon each visit.
Museum volunteers continue to
look for ways to enhance the muse
um and see the work done to date
as an effort among many in the area.