It’s History Lives Here Month

Edward Scribner built this log cabin c.1891 on Mitchell Bay. In 1988 it was donated to the Historical Society, moved to the Museum grounds and restored to near original condition.

For their month­ly col­umn, the San Juan His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety asks, “Who tells your story?”

These clos­ing four words sung in the Broad­way musi­cal “Hamil­ton” are pow­er­ful­ly sim­ple. They refer not only to Alexan­der Hamil­ton, but to every one of us. Just as the sto­ries of our country’s found­ing patri­ots are impor­tant, so are mil­lions of local his­to­ry sto­ries of all eras, lived and told by those who were there. Unique or com­mon, they all make up the Amer­i­can expe­ri­ence. It’s why we like to say “This place matters.”

May is the month when island orga­ni­za­tions, in obser­vance of His­to­ry Lives Here Month, pack the cal­en­dar with free events like these (just a sampling):

May 5 and 12: San Juan His­tor­i­cal Muse­um Open House tours

At the San Juan Island Library:
May 7: “But what about the pig?”
May 9: The Sal­ish Sea and North Amer­i­ca in 1418
May 23: Geneal­o­gy and Local His­to­ry: Research Soulmates

May 26 and 27: San Juan Island Nation­al His­tor­i­cal Park guid­ed hikes

For spe­cif­ic times and details of all His­to­ry Lives Here events in May, check out the online cal­en­dars of the San Juan Islands Vis­i­tors Bureau, The San Juan Island Library, His­toric Fri­day Har­bor, and the San Juan His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety & Muse­um. 

The San Juan His­tor­i­cal Muse­um will open May 17 for the sea­son. Reg­u­lar hours are Tues­day through Sat­ur­day, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Vis­its at oth­er times are wel­come by appoint­ment. Hear a sto­ry, tell a story!

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