Heppner Library-Museum facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Heppner Library-Museum |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Exterior of the Heppner Branch of the Oregon Trail Library District | |
| Country | United States of America |
| Type | Public |
| Scope | Eastern Oregon, Rural Oregon |
| Established | 1893 |
| Location | Heppner, Morrow County, Oregon |
| Branch of | Oregon Trail Library District |
| Access and use | |
| Population served | 12,000 |
| Website | Official site: http://oregontrail.ploud.net/our-locations-and-hours/heppner-branch |
The Heppner Library-Museum is a special place in Heppner, Oregon. It's both a public library and a museum for the county. This building is part of the Oregon Trail Library District and also part of Oregon's Sage Library System.
In 1958, a kind woman named Mrs. Amanda Duvall gave the library to Heppner. She wanted it to be a way to remember her husband and daughter. The City of Heppner also gave the land for the building. The McCormack Construction Company from Pendleton and the Case Furniture Company of Heppner helped build it. The Heppner Library-Museum opened in 1960 and is still a very important part of the community today.
Contents
The Story of the Library-Museum
How the Library Started
Early Days of the Library
The idea for the Heppner Library began a long time ago, in 1893. Two citizens, H. E. Riner and O. K. Fitzsimmons, worked hard to create the town's first library. They went around town asking for books. They even convinced the State Library of Oregon in Salem to donate over a thousand books! Riner and Fitzsimmons also each gave $500 to help get the library started. This first library was in a small wooden building on the main street.
Over the next 20 years, the library moved to different buildings in Heppner. For example, it moved into an old Baptist Church. It also moved to another spot where an Assembly of God Church once stood.
Fires and Rebuilding
Sadly, the first library was destroyed in 1918 by a big fire. This fire burned four blocks and caused a lot of damage. Newspapers at the time called it the "most destructive in the history of Heppner." The fire started behind the opera house building. After the fire, people in the community spent a few years reorganizing the library. It reopened in a small space in the town's millinery shop. The library was restocked with at least 300 books from the State Library of Oregon and gifts from local people.
.png)
In 1925, another fire destroyed the library. This time, the fire started in a butcher's shop next door. It took at least five more years for the town to have a working library again. Around 1930, the library was reorganized once more. It was temporarily located on the upper floor of the Odd Fellows Building. Eventually, in 1932, the library moved into a fixed-up garage. The City of Heppner bought this garage. For the next 30 years, many different librarians and citizens helped manage the library.
In the late 1940s, the City of Heppner included money for the library in its budget for the first time. Before this, volunteers and donations mostly kept the library going. One time, in the late 1940s, a stove and chimney fire made the entire library black with soot. Library board members and their families worked hard to clean every part of the room, the shelves, and every book. In the 1950s, the librarian and the women who worked with her were paid 25 cents per hour. This money came from the $600 budget the city gave the library. One librarian, Ruby Becket, worked from 1954 to 1956 and earned $40 per month.
A New Building for the Community
In the late 1950s, Mrs. Amanda Duvall offered to build a new library and museum. She wanted it to be a way to remember her husband, Harry Duvall, and her daughter, Erma Duvall Wickersham. Mrs. Duvall was inspired by the plans for Oregon's 100th birthday celebration.
In 1958, the City of Heppner created a group of seven people to accept Mrs. Duvall's gift. They started planning the new building. The library-museum was first planned for a different spot, but the land was too small. So, the City of Heppner offered to donate enough land in its city park for the building.
W. H. Gilmore, an architect from Portland, designed the library-museum building. He designed a 64-foot by 72-foot building made of concrete blocks with a brick outside. Construction bids were asked for in July 1959. The expected cost was about $65,000.
In August 1959, the McCormack Construction Company from Pendleton won the building contract with a bid of $58,651. Case Furniture Company of Heppner won a second contract for heating and ventilation for $6,176. The building ended up costing about $70,000. The Heppner Library-Museum officially opened in 1960. It continues to be a very important part of the Heppner community.
.png)
.png)
The Morrow County Museum
The Morrow County Museum is located in the same building as the Heppner Library. The museum has many items that tell the story of the region's early settlers, farming, and rural life. It has hundreds of photographs that show how Morrow County grew and changed.
The museum has exhibits about farming history, the Native American people who lived in the county, and how medical care was provided in rural areas. It also tells the story of the Heppner Flood. Mrs. Amanda Duvall is also given credit for helping to start the museum.
People Who Helped the Library
Many people have helped the Heppner Library-Museum over the years. Here are some of the librarians and a special helper:
- Mrs. O. K. Fitzsimmons, librarian
- Josephine Mahoney Baker, librarian
- Frances Case, librarian
- Madge Thomson, librarian
- Louise Becket, librarian
- Hannah Jones, librarian
- Martha Dick, librarian
- Evelyn Isom, librarian
- Ruby Becket, librarian
- Ella Smith, librarian
- Blanche Frye Brown, librarian
- Justine Weatherford, librarian
- Amanda Duvall, who gave money to help build the library and museum
