Carpenter Home Museum/Gallery

In 1867 the Goodwin brothers found gold in the Ellensburg area while walking along the Native American's trails. They went back in 1873 and found $600 worth of gold. When they went for more supplies, they created a gold rush. There were Settlers and there were Gamblers.

Thomas L. Gamble and Walter J. Reed, both Settlers, founded Cle Elum in 1886 after Coal was found in Roslyn. The trains needed coal, so they were coming to get it. The train was formerly going to Teanaway. Gamble found the area first, then went to the land office to make his claim and ran into Reed, who he talked into claiming another parcel next to him (60 acres). Side-note on Reed...he fought in THE Battle of Gettysburg! He traded his "Soldier's Claim" for a preemption which allowed him to buy land at the federal government's minimum price. The first train stopped in Cle Elum on October 11, 1886. They had a General Store, a bank and all sorts of other buildings set up in preparation. Reed's wife thought it would be the next Philidelphia, so they made nice wide roads when they were first planning out the layout of the town. They even named the town after the Native's name for swiftwater, Tle-el-Lum (Cle Elum). In 1902 they were Incorporated and Gamble was the first mayor.

Meanwhile, Frank Carpenter was learning Accounting and working at banks and in 1906 heard that Cle Elum was looking for a Banker. He went and bought the failed bank and got it organized. In 1908 he went back to his hometown in Pennsylvania and got his childhood sweetheart, Norah Carr. He took her back to Cle Elem and they were married shortly thereafter. Two years later they had what would become their only child, a daughter, Margaret.

This was the home of Frank, Norah and Margaret, built in 1914. The furnishings and even the rugs are the ones that they used! It was a mansion in their time. The third floor is the Ballroom where they held balls to raise money for the charities in their town.

The volunteer that I spoke to on my visit, Sandy, said that she used to read to the elderly Margaret when she was a little girl, about 11. I believe Sandy said that she was currently in her 70's(?). She read to her on the couch that is in the living room. She said that at Christmastime, the tree was on the left side of the fireplace.

It's a beautiful home. I'm in love with the town, it's history and all of the adventures that the area has to offer! I'm writing a book at this very moment of all the great things I've run across so far. It's my Bucket List for Cle Elum. If you have any ideas for me, I'd love to hear them!

I enjoyed my visit to this museum to view an art display from 3 local artists. I appreciated that this house displayed a lot of original furnishings and decorations from the 1900s.

Great stop for a free (donations accepted) for some some history of the area.

Really neat place to check out, felt like I stepped back in time!

Fantastic, very interesting and done well for showing!

History and art combined in a beautiful setting.

Come here to test out female carpet.

Informative

The house has been decorated beautifully in period pieces. There is a lot of interesting information about the history of the area. Every month there is a new artist there showing their art work.

Very nice well furnished in early 1900'S. Looks like it's still mostly 20th century. For those that are interested in Art Work, there are many items to purchase that are provided by an art gallery.

Wonderfully maintained piece of history. So much of the original home is still in place. Free admission but ease give to help with the upkeep of such a gem.

Awesome

The ready time can range because the door is always locked and no one can get in unless someone else is called in, and they have to go from the backdoor. Only the third floor is the museum part and there is always way too much writing to which you are bored and you can see grammar mistakes. The two lower floors are just the furniture with a tiny bit of information as a platform to display the art that is pushing for you to buy.