Celebrating Twenty-Five Years Of Preserving The Past

The large barn that is known as the Jefferson Valley Museum began its history in 1914 as the Ike Pace Barn. Pace and Frank Wyne began a dairy business there in 1915. It was known as The Sanitary Dairy and from 1927 to 1937 Al Smith operated the last dairy at the barn.

This barn not only held cattle, horses and grain. It was also host to many Barn Dances in its early years. In 1950 Basil and Tene Brooke bought the barn and built a Meat Processing Plant just south of the barn. In 1990 during Whitehall's Centennial, Roy Millegan had a dream of developing a museum in the area to capture the wide history that ran from Lewis and Clark coming through the area to Gold Mining adventures to the development of the land to the railroad coming through and a town developed. The Brookes donated the barn and some land and Millegan, Francis Hill, Arcylle and Doug Shaw and Al Peterson joined together to make that dream a reality.

In 1992 work began to turn this old barn into the building that now houses thousands of artifacts that tell the story of our valley. The town and its people came together to make this possible. In 1995 the doors opened to the public. Currently there are over 10,000 artifacts computerized and on display. But the story does not end there.

In 1999, the John Jardine estate bequest provided enough money to build the John Jardine Building which now contains the "Cowboy Room," many farming items, mining implements and an antique vehicle collection. In 2002 the Gilstrap Blacksmith Shop was transferred log by log to the Museum grounds. Excitement grew as the story of this part of Southwest Montana was captured. Then in 2011, the museum was almost lost because of a serious flood in the area. But, once again, the town came together and saved the museum and its many buildings.

The growth continued: in 2015 a new addition was added to the main building which houses a magnificent stained-glass window from the old Catholic Church, an iron collection and many dresses representing styles throughout the years. In 2018 the office was remodeled and in 2019 an addition to the Jardine Building made it possible to increase the automotive collection.

This museum is maintained by volunteers and sustained by grants, donations, and memberships. It is your museum. Come and enjoy the stories it holds in this 25th Season Celebration Year. The Season began Memorial Weekend and runs through September 15th. The hours are noon until 4 P.M. Tuesday through Sunday. During the off-season, the volunteers are working on Mondays, which is also an opportunity for one to visit the Museum. Volunteer Arlene Weber has created an interesting history movie that can be viewed on the museum's Facebook Page or on You-Tube.