The Oneida Pioneer Museum hosted approximately the same number of visitors in 2024 as in 2023. The Museum had over 700 visitors sign the guest register. Because only one member of a group or family usually signs the guest register, the Museum likely hosted close to 900 visitors. Most visitors from out of town came to the Museum because they saw the signs on
the freeway. 

The Museum opened on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend with its annual Bake Sale and closed on Labor Day. Kristle Jensen and Garren Huckaby worked as hosts this summer.  All but one of the Museum Board members volunteered as hosts on at least one day during the summer.

Although the Museum was not officially open, November saw 65 visitors of all ages come to the Museum on the evening of awarding prizes to winners of the Museum page of The Idaho Enterprise coloring contest.  During the year, tours were hosted for the 2nd Ward Young Women, the 2nd Ward Primary, the 4th Ward Primary, and the Cub Scouts. The entire 3rd grade of Malad Elementary School visited the Museum during their annual walk through historic downtown. The local camp of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers continued to hold its monthly meetings at the Museum except during the summer. The DUP assisted the Museum by cleaning the main floor in preparation for the opening in May.

The Malad Valley Welsh Festival was again the single event that brought the largest number of visitors (130) to the Museum.  The 4th of July brought 70 visitors to the Museum, and a wet, rainy Memorial Day brought 40 visitors. 

As shown on the following table, visitors from Malad and Oneida County accounted for 270 of the visitors who signed in. Over 120 visitors came from other places in Idaho. The rest of the visitors came from 20 states (not including Idaho) with 186 coming from Utah. The Museum also hosted visitors from Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Armenia. (Some visitors do not indicate their city or state when they sign in.)

TOTAL 700

Malad/Oneida County 270 Idaho 120 Utah 186

Washington 20

Arizona 14

California 13

Nevada 9

North Carolina 7

Florida 6

Montana 5

CO, NY, OR 4

Maryland 3

VA, WY, TX, MO, CT 2

MN, IN, IA 1

Armenia, Switzerland 4

United Kingdom, Canada 2

Unknown 10

The following table indicates the number of visitors during the months when the Museum was officially open in 2024, compared to the past five years:

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

May 92 41 124 145 117 81

June 279 59 143 259 197 275

July 161 133 173 172 257 145

Aug. 135 86 88 91 95 80

Sept. 16 25 79 25 21 13

Other visitors made appointments to tour the Museum during the months when it is closed.

The window display committee of Dotty Evanson, Sharon Harris, Janice Vaughan, and Hailey Sweeten created the spring and summer exhibits that featured kids’ games from the past. The smaller display window featured two wagon wheels supporting a sign with the Museum name, all created by Sharon Harris.

The ninth annual “Friends of the Museum” campaign had another successful year with 101 supporters of the Museum donating money to assist the Museum in its efforts to preserve the history of Malad and Oneida County. The names of the donors at each level (Annual, Handcart, Covered Wagon, Stagecoach, and Steam Engine) are on a plaque in the Museum. 

The Museum receives annual allocations from Malad City and Oneida County that allow the Museum to hire hosts and to pay for operation of the HVAC system.

Originally funded by grants from the Idaho Heritage Trust and the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation, the ongoing fabric preservation project is under the direction of Sarah Robbins. The storage rooms on the third floor were completed before the Museum opened in May, which meant that the clothing and quilt collections were taken upstairs for storage and for rotating displays on the main floors. The Mayor’s Youth Council with the help of Thatcher, Riggins, and Fenn Sweeten moved the massive collections upstairs, opening the mezzanine for the first time in three years.

Another grant from the Idaho Heritage Trust funded the ongoing conservation of several pioneer-era crayon portraits that have been added to the Museum’s outstanding collection.  

Maps are available at the Museum to guide visitors to the historic markers located at 20 sites throughout downtown. Additional information about each site is available on the Museum’s website (www.oneidapioneermuseum.org), which is kept up to date by webmaster Liz Kent.

The Museum Board meets at least quarterly to discuss maintenance, operations and ways to improve the Museum. Board members are Chair Jean Thomas, Vice-Chair Bill Lewis, Secretary Janice Vaughan, Treasurer Julie Willie, Dotty Evanson, Sharon Harris, Joan Hawkins, Marvin Hess, Lorna Brignone, Sarah Robbins, Hailey Sweeten, and David Gilgen.  

Donations to the Museum of artifacts important to the history of Malad Valley and Oneida County are always welcome. Those wishing to donate an item to the Museum may contact any Board member.  Donors will be asked to sign a Memorandum of Ownership to transfer permanent ownership to the Museum. All donations must be identified as to owner, use, and relationship to Oneida County.