Trick Or Treat!

Happy Halloween from Tatanka and Dakotah...

All we want are treats please!

Art Alley, Rapid City, South Dakota - Art Or Graffiti?

Welcome to Art Alley!

It is located in "Old Town" Rapid City, South Dakota.

Graffiti was becoming a problem in Rapid City.  These photos show how that city creatively solved their problem.

They set aside a little used alley, between two busy downtown streets, for the use of any artist who wanted to use it.

What was once drab and boring, is now colorful, eye-catching and an interesting way to spend an hour or so.

Some of the work looks promising, while other parts just look like graffiti, but what a great way to let people express themselves without defacing the property that belongs to others!

Shuckin' The Corn

If you need to prepare corn-on-the-cob for a crowd, here's a nifty way to do it, it's called "cooler corn!"

Photo courtesy of Scott DeSimon

 

Haul your cooler out; hey it's not too late for corn-on-the-cob!  

Clean the cooler out and, add a bunch of shucked ears.

Pour two kettles full of boiling water of the corn, and close the cooler.

30 minutes later, you've got a cooler full of perfectly cooked corn!  Keep the lid closed and it should keep to the right level of doneness for a couple of hours.

Great idea for camping or a barbeque!

Now, for those who prefer to stay indoors this time of the year, I found this neat demonstration of how to easily shuck an ear of corn.

Below is the musical version of Shuckin' The Corn.

Just some food and music for thought.

The Hotel Josephine - Grants Pass, Oregon

The grand Hotel Josephine has returned.

 

The Hotel Josephine was officially opened in November, 1893.  The 23 room hotel's amenities included a sitting room on the second floor (offering a comfortable place to view Sixth Street), a dining room, barber shop and "sample room" (a place for traveling salesmen to display their merchandise).

Percy T. Booth's book, "Grants Pass, the Golden Years" describes the Hotel Josephine as; "In 1903 Hotel Josephine was a model of convenience for the traveling public.  In addition to electricity, it was the first building in Grants Pass to be equipped with gas for cooking and heating."

The canvas for the Hotel Josephine mural is the six story addition that was added to the Hotel Josephine in about 1925.  At that time, forty-five rooms were added and the hotel was renamed Redwoods Hotel.  The new addition was completed with private baths for each room.

The coolest thing about the Redwoods Hotel was "The Caves Grotto."  It was a large banquet room designed to resemble one of the large caverns found in the Oregon Caves.  Again, quoting from Percy T. Booth's book, "The Grotto was a unique copy of one of the Caves largest caverns, complete with 'Marble' pillars and stalactites hanging from the ceiling."
 

The interior of the original Hotel Josephine was destroyed by a fire in 1975 and the building, already deemed unsafe by the Grants Pass fire marshal, was torn down.

Today, you can take a step back in time and visit the Hotel Josephine.  The mural is located at the corner of "E" and Sixth Streets.

This Hotel Josephine mural is the work of artist J. Michener - what a terrific talent!

For more information on the Hotel Josephine and many more historical landmarks in Josephine County, please visit the Josephine County Historical Society's research library and bookshop.

JOSEPHINE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
512 SW 5th Street
Grants Pass, Oregon 97526
Telephone: (541) 479-7827
 
  While you're there, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Percy T. Booth's terrific book "Grants Pass the Golden Years."

Our New Online Bookshop and Much More!

The Josephine County Historical Society is happy to announce our new Online Bookshop and much more!

Over the past several months we have been hard at work creating a new and user-friendly website.  If you haven't had a chance to look at it yet, just click here, and you'll find yourself there.

You can now purchase books that we publish ourselves, as well as the many other publications we offer for sale at our Online Bookshop.  You can pay for the books and other items we offer for sell through Paypal.  You don't even have to have a Paypal account; you can also pay with a debit or credit card without setting up a Paypal account.

Of course, you are welcome to come in and purchase these books at our Bookshop, located in our Research Library at: 512 SW 5th Street in Grants Pass, Oregon.  Our hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

If you don't see a book that you are interested in on our Online Bookshop, just give us a call at (541) 479-7827 or send us an email at josephine@historicalsociety.us.

In addition to purchasing books online, you can also sign up for membership or renew your membership.  We also gratefully accept your contributions online on our Donations page.

While you're visiting our new website, look at our Calendar of Events; download or print a PDF version of our quarterly newsletter, The Old-Timer; check out our Links page, where you'll find Community Links, History and Museum Links, Travel Links, a Cemetery/Grave Locator form, a link to our Blog, and links to Josephine County Hikes.

Our new website also has information and photos on our Living History Players, 

Historic "G" Street, 

a tour of historic homes in North Grants Pass, 

information about the Schmidt House Museum, and more!

So what are you waiting for give our new website a try!

Murder, Mayhem and Mischief in Josephine County - Book Review

Jean Boling's Murder, Mayhem and Mischief in Josephine County is a kaleidoscopic and entertaining collection of newspaper stories published prior to 1932 by the Grants Pass Daily Courier.

The title of this book is absolutely perfect!  When passing by an auto accident or person of questionable character, did your parents ever say; "Look the other way!"

Well, my mother always did; so I found this book a fascinating way of looking vicariously at very real tragedies, accidents, serious crimes, vicious murders, kidnappings, robberies and other transgressions.

 Murder, Mayhem and Mischief is a great way to escape the doldrums of television and take a look at some of Josephine County's more colorful past.

Ms. Boling must have spent countless hours in the Daily Courier's newspaper morgue to come up with this written collage of stories.  If you haven't had a chance to read Murder, Mayhem and Mischief yet, I highly recommend it.

Murder, Mayhem and Mischief in Josephine County can be purchased at the Josephine Historical Society's Bookshop located in the Research Library at 512 K Street, Grants Pass; or at their Online Bookshop.

2011 Graveyard Tour! - Grants Pass, Oregon

The Josephine County Historical Society is pleased to announce our 2011 Graveyard Tour!

Come join us for a step back in time as our Living History Players make "pioneer spirits come alive!"

Our Graveyard Tour takes place at the Oddfellows/Masonic Cemetery in Grants Pass on Saturday, October 22nd at 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM.

Advance tickets are $5.00 each and can be purchased at the JCHS Research Library, located at 515 SW 5th Street, Tuesday through Friday from 10 AM to 4 PM.

Tickets may also be purchased at the gate for $6.00. 

Mark your calendars and come join us for this fun, family event!

Click here to visit our website for more information,

or

download the Graveyard Tour flyer. 

Murdered Man Surprises His Sister-In-Law

One hundred years ago, the following article appeared in the Grants Pass Daily Courier on September 11, 1911:

"A supposed murdered man walked into a Grants Pass home yesterday and surprised his sister-in-law while the man's brother was seeking the body in the woods of Klamath county.  The surprise happened when A.J. Thompson walked into the home of his brother Edgar L. Thompson.  Thompson was working in Klamath county and a report came that he had been killed by some unknown person."

 

Sixty-four years after surprising his family, Alfred J. Thompson was laid to rest in a Klamath county cemetery.