The New Era - All about Sweet Home since 1929

In our last article we began following the memories of Lynn Rice as he focused on recalling sawmills in the East Linn area in a 2005 interview. Two volunteers from the Museum had been told to contact...

“Go talk to Lynn Rice,” a pair of East Linn Museum volunteers were advised after expressing an interest in collecting stories about disappearing area mills. So Mike Sele and Glenda Hopkins did...

Lemonade has come to mind recently. The time of year had something to do with it, as spring runs into summer with longer, warmer days. Even when we're past our youth, they bespeak expectations of...

EDITOR'S NOTE: The first installment of this two-part series ran in the March 29, 2023, edition of the New Era. Read it online at https://bit.ly/40wpozR. Last month's article left us at the beginning...

Recently, we explored Clifford Merrill Drury’s “Henry Harmon Spalding: Pioneer of Old Oregon” (1936), a new arrival at the East Linn Museum. The book recounts the title figure’s life and...

Henry Harmon Spalding stumbled along through darkness. Having failed to adequately hobble his horse, he was afoot. His shoes had proven too tight, so he discarded them, wrapping his leggings around...

While wandering through aged relics at the East Linn Museum, some attention-attracting items may set off thought-trains in diverse directions. For example, a large brown ceramic bean pot sits atop the...

The East Linn Museum is now closed for the winter until February. In the meantime, we ponder the ghostly sounds we imagine rising in its darkened recesses. We know the main room once served as a...

We've come to the seasonal change when wintry weather nips at the warmth of memories - a good time to refresh ourselves with an inspiring walk through the East Linn Museum. However, the museum will...

“Halt.” The order came from the darkness as a lone figure traveled down a moonlit Sweet Home street. Instead of stopping, the figure turned. Shots from his gun rang out in the silence. More came...

First, a joke: A lady lost her little shaggy poodle. When a policeman brought back her soiled and bedraggled little dog, his mistress rejoiced, but asked, "How did he ever get so wet?" "Why, when we...

"You know, this would probably make a good subject for an article," an East Linn Museum volunteer said as she held up a thick, green plastic notebook. The item had come with Ben Dahlenburg's scale...

At this time of year, as summer begins to wane, some of us are lucky enough to be able to visit scented backyards, where perfumes set forth by blooming honeysuckle, privet hedge, butterfly bush and...

Among the more unexpected finds at the East Linn Museum are two small autograph albums and a photocopy of a third. Some of us might remember having such collections as young ladies in grade school....

Thanks to late East Linn Museum volunteer Ted Fitzwater, we can float down the South Santiam River on a log drive. Inspired by the cover of "Sweet Home in Linn County, New Life, New Land," a...

Here at the East Linn Museum, we're taking yet two more looks at the Quartzville Mining District. First, we had a visit from Cindy Budlong, a Mill City Historical Society volunteer representing their...

If we want to exercise our speculating and surmising abilities, the East Linn Museum's the perfect place to visit. Why? Because it's filled by objects with obscure pasts. Some were possessions...

Not long ago, a number of colorful picture postcards at the East Linn Museum drew attention as they were placed in new albums with plastic sheaths, which allow both sides to be seen. What have we...

While reading through Lois Rice's notes at the East Linn Museum, a couple of newspaper clippings caught my attention. One, from July 1904, dealt with collecting chittem bark. The other, from...

A call came to the East Linn Museum a while back. Would we be interested in a quilt made by a ladies’ club east of Foster for a young lady turning 16 in 1942? “Another friendship quilt?” the...

If we want to be impressed by the transitory nature of history at the East Linn Museum, we can examine notes and newspaper clippings about our area compiled by Lois Rice about 50 years ago. Rice, of...

As we meander through the East Linn Museum, we likely don't have cattle in mind until we come across lariats, saddles, mohair chaps and a branding iron in its tack room. Although some of the branding...

At the East Linn Museum, it gladdens the researcher to come across an anecdote-filled history about a family that settled here in 1852 (and its descendants). Alvin and Polly Morris homesteaded on Fern...

In the mid-1940s, following World War II, an optimistic announcement declared that the era of plastics had arrived. In reality, plastics of some sort had been around since 1869, when John Wesley...

When we enter the East Linn Museum, thoughts of England's Queen Victoria don't come readily to mind. Still, her era's influences directly reflect on our area and many of the artifacts on display...