Historic Chambers Prairie cabin may have future at new Lacey museum

At the east end of the Regional Athletic Complex, and stored away in two shipping containers near a water tower, sits an important piece of Lacey’s history.

Inside the two containers are the deconstructed elements of the Chambers Prairie cabin, a building thought to date to the 1860s that occupied the old Chambers family homestead in south Lacey until the land was developed into the Horizon Pointe housing development about 10 years ago. The cabin occupied a spot in the area of 66th Avenue Southeast.

The cabin was donated to the city, said Erin Quinn Valcho, curator of the Lacey Museum. She was on site Tuesday morning to talk about the cabin’s past and future.

One container has the exterior elements of the structure — the timbers and posts and the smell of cedar. The other container is home to interior fixtures, such as the old stairway bannister, windows and glass bricks. The glass bricks were thought to provide a light source for the 880-square-foot cabin.

Although built in the 1860s, the cabin had received some modern touches over the years, Valcho said. She said the museum is investigating whether the cabin was used as a school, but it was not used as a church.

The cabin was used as a residence, according to The Olympian’s archives. Susan Scofield told The Olympian in June 2005 that she had rented it for 20 years.

Valcho would like to see a portion of the cabin reconstructed in the city’s new museum, known as the Lacey Museum at the Depot, which is proposed for 5550 Lacey Blvd. SE. That parcel is owned by the city and the museum will be so named because a train depot occupied the spot in 1891, according to city information.

Valcho envisions a corner of the cabin in the new museum, revealing the historic hewn-log construction of the building.

Deputy Mayor Cynthia Pratt supports Valcho’s idea, but she also likes the idea of some kind of marker, monument or kiosk to mark the cabin’s original location in south Lacey.

“I don’t want to lose sight of where it once was,” Pratt said.

There is plenty to do to get the new museum up and running, according to the city’s Historical Commission, including reviewing and approving designs and cost estimates, and planning the funding strategy.

Valcho said that the new museum would be at least twice as large as the current 1,800-square-foot museum on Lacey Street Southeast, providing enough room for exhibits, collections and teaching space.

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 3:31 PM with the headline "Historic Chambers Prairie cabin may have future at new Lacey museum."