When I walked through the door, the docents seemed to perk up at actually having a visitor. Aww. One of them led me through a room-by-room tour and filled me in on the house's history.
The house was completed in 1908 and was the home of Muriel "Mertie" Stevens, whose maternal grandfather, Medorem Crawford, led a wagon train along the Oregon Trail in 1842 and was a prominent pioneer politician.
Mertie was born in 1872. She was a sickly child and told not to marry because she wouldn't live for very long. Mertie died in 1968 at the age of 96. How ironically sad. :(
She willed the house to the Clackamas County Historical Society and set up a scholarship fund for Clackamas County high school students in her and her dad's name.
Medorem Crawford, staked out 640 acres in Dayton, and voted to create and served on Oregon's Provisional Legislature and later the state's House of Representatives.
I uploaded to YouTube a little sample of what the victrola sounded like and a sweep of the room.
See those "vases" on both sides of the clock in the corner? They're actually spittoons! And that's a gas lamp on the end table.
Setting up for a dinner party that'll never happen.
Do you know what these mugs are for?
They're moustache cups! So when you drink, your mustache won't get dirty! Hehe. I just think this was soooo clever! Although, I'm tickled with the thought of a big, burly, mustachioed man drinking from such a dainty cup.
I love doll houses.
Notice what I liked in the pantry? Look in the bottom left corner? A slot to store a rolling pin! I love details like that.
Scary meat grinder.
Ah, remember when recipes were still hand-written?
The kitchen implements on the wall kinda scared me.
I don't even know half of what these things were used for.
And that chain linked thing on the bottom left really scared me, even though I think it just might be a fancy whisk?
There was even a little bench that folded up into the wall so you could sit on it while talking on the telephone.
I did walk upstairs but didn't photograph the rooms. There was a toy room that made me sad as I imagined those toys waiting for children that Mertie didn't dare have because she could die at any minute. She was a piano teacher for many years, so perhaps her life wasn't as lonely as I imagined.
I loved the quaint intimacy of the Stevens-Crawford Heritage House.
But, my day wasn't quite done. Three museums for the price of one, remember? What will the
Museum of the Oregon Territory hold?
All Oregon posts can be found in the tag, Series: Oregon. I suggest reading this particular trip in this order:
I-5 From LA to Portland
Mom and Dad's Garden
Burgerville - Portland - Oregon
Hakatamon - Beaverton - Oregon
I Think I'll Go For a Walk Outside Now...
Vista Point - Oregon City
End of Oregon Trail Interpretive Center - Oregon City
Stevens-Crawford Heritage House - Oregon City
Museum of the Oregon Territory - Oregon City
Mom's Banh Xeo (Vietnamese Sizzling Crepes)
Blackberry Cobbler
Bonneville Lock and Dam - Cascade Locks - Oregon
Bonneville Hatchery - Cascade Locks - Oregon
Multnomah Falls - Columbia River Gorge - Oregon
Horsetail Falls - Columbia River Gorge - Oregon
Wahkeena Falls - Columbia River Gorge - Oregon
Bridal Veil Falls - Columbia River Gorge - Oregon
Historic Columbia River Highway - Columbia River Gorge - Oregon
Latourell Falls - Columbia River Gorge - Oregon
Crown Point Vista House - Columbia River Gorge - Oregon
Banh Cuon Tan Dinh - Portland - Oregon (Closed)
Downtown Portland - Oregon
Lan Su Chinese Garden (Portland Classical Chinese Garden) - Portland - Oregon
Powell's City of Books - Portland - Oregon
Mom's Geoduck, Dynamite-Style and Chao Oc (Vietnamese Rice Porridge with Clams)
How to Prepare Geoduck and Razor Clams
Geoduck, Japanese Dynamite-style
Chao Oc (Vietnamese Rice Porridge with Clams)
Le Bistro Montage - Portland - Oregon
Kenny and Zuke's Delicatessen - Portland - Oregon
Stevens-Crawford Heritage House
603 6th St.
Oregon City, Oregon 97045
503-655-2866
Wednesday to Saturday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: $4 or free as part of the admission ticket to the End of Oregon Trail Interpretive Center - Oregon City.
*****
1 year ago today, Naan (Indian Leavened Flatbread).
2 years ago today, Lien Hoa Chinese BBQ Food To-Go - Westminster.
Those old kitchen tools DO look scary. I blame horror films for that.
ReplyDeleteThose moustache teacups are pretty clever. Before I read what you wrote about them, I thought the little slot was for putting your spoon into after stirring. But the moustache thing is much more clever.
Oregon is beautiful, at least where your parents live from the looks of your photos. I love that you can find wild berries and flowers on a hike. So different from California.
I agree with tea time. I think those mustache teacups are pretty nifty. It's wierd to see cocaine used to treat an ailment, but if you really think about we currently use a form of it as an analgesic i.e. lidocaine.
ReplyDeleteMustache tea cups!! Brilliant! XD
ReplyDeleteTea Time,
ReplyDeleteExactly! I imagined a House of Wax type of thing. I thought the same thing at first. Like how jam jars have a notch for the spoon, so I figured it was to keep the spoon from sliding. I just love the novelty of mustache cups.
Oregon is very beautiful. And though California has grown on me in a lot of ways, nothing beats the green trees and mountains of home.
Diana,
Coke used to have cocaine in it! That's how it got the name. People used to think it was beneficial.
Starryxskyz,
Indeed! :-{)