The Oneida Pioneer Museum will hold its annual Grand Opening and Bake Sale on Saturday, May 24, 2025. The Bake Sale, a fund raiser for the Museum, will be from noon to 2:00 p.m., and the Museum will be open from noon until 5:00 p.m. that day. 

The Museum will be open on Memorial Day from 11:00 – 5:00. Regular hours will begin on Tuesday, May 27. The Museum is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day from 1:00 – 5:00 Tuesdays through Saturdays. Appointments can be made for visits at other times by contacting Board members.

 Visitors will be greeted by Hostess Mary Moss, Hostess Maggie Willie, or Host Bobby Hannah. Board members will serve as volunteer hosts or hostesses during the summer.

Window Display

Designed by the Museum Board’s Subcommittee for Window Displays, the Museum’s summer window display will feature the history of the Oneida County Hospital, now known as the Nell J. Redfield Memorial Hospital.  The displays will recognize the 100th anniversary of the local Hospital, which is being celebrated throughout 2025.

 The Hospital began under the direction of Dr. O.H. Mabey and other prominent citizens of Malad. In 1925 Malad’s first Hospital opened in the old Peck Hotel near the Malad River on Bannock Street. That building later became a doctor’s office/clinic before being torn down.

In 1938 the Works Progress Administration built the Hospital that now serves as the medical clinic on Bannock Street. The current Hospital was dedicated in 1970 and is across 200 West from the former Hospital. 

The name change to honor the generosity of Nell J. Redfield occurred in 2013. Nell Jones grew up in Malad and always remembered her roots. The Foundation she established in Reno, Nevada, has funded many major projects at the Hospital, including the new operating room table, security doors throughout the building, a new roof, an anesthesiology machine, an endoscope, an x-ray machine, an emergency generator, a heart monitoring system, and other major equipment.

The Museum has a large collection of vintage medical equipment, much of which will be on display in the windows.  Enlarged pictures of the three Oneida County Hospitals will also be on display.

Museum Displays

The creativity of Dotty Evanson, Chair of the Display Subcommittee for the Museum, can be seen in the reorganization of the displays on the main floor of the Museum. With the help of other members of the Board, the Malad High School Student Council, and other community members, including the morning pickleball players, major changes were made in the artifact displays.

Beginning with the very disorganized archives, Dotty and other Board members created a Book Nook with the huge collection of books, journals, meeting minutes, picture albums, yearbooks, histories, and other documents finally organized into a somewhat usable area.  Items are divided into categories, including School, Military, Church, Biographies, Organizations, and Malad Valley, utilizing book cases from the library of the old elementary school. An indexing system will need to be created during the summer to make the section search-able by visitors.

Using beautiful formal dresses from bygone eras, another new section shows off just a few of the Museum’s huge clothing collection. The plan is to rotate the clothing more frequently so that visitors can see the extent of the collection. As part of this change, the quilt collection is now on the mezzanine.

A Welsh Corner has been created that displays the Bard’s Chair, the Welsh quilt made by the Oneida Quilters, and the large collection of family histories put together by Dianne Pett for the Welsh Festival.

Although the Museum Board hopes that the sign in front of the Museum will be refurbished prior to its opening, that project turned out to be much bigger and more complicated than first thought.  Board member Marvin Hess contacted the City Crew to take down the very old, squeaky sign. Board members Bill Lewis and David Gilgen then took the very weathered sign apart and found that the entire sign needed to be rebuilt and repainted. 

Everyone is invited to visit Malad’s local repository of historic items and see artifacts from the pioneer era of Oneida County. Even if you have visited the Museum in the past, come again and see new artifacts and new displays. Stop by for the bake sale and stay to view the new displays in the Oneida Pioneer Museum.