Francisco Fort Museum

04/28/2026

Ongoing work with the lithics collection! Along with giving each point a number, photographing, and entering each point into the system... there is the identification task. Some are easier than others!

04/22/2026

Love your local museum?? Come on out and help up get Francisco Fort Museum ready for the 2026 season! May 7th from 8am to 12 noon! Sandwiches from Charlie's Market will be provided around noon.

04/20/2026

In a bygone era... the garden club ladies kept the town in flowering beauty... oh how we wish we could hear their stories...

04/17/2026

Back in 2007 when I first volunteered at the museum, I was surrounded by lovely elders who kept the place going out of the goodness and commitment of their hearts. I still remember following them around as they 'locked and unlocked' every single door, which each had it's own key, plus keys for each display case and closet. Over the years the locks have changed, and it's a bit more manageable now... but the old keys hold so many stories, along with the memories of all those who used them. Thank you to those lovely humans...

04/10/2026

When an item is brought to a museum, a collection committee is responsible for overseeing what is accepted and what is not and why. Their decision is based on the museum's mission statement, collection goals, space and ability to care for the artifact. As important as the artifact itself, is PROVENANCE! This is the history, origin, chain of ownership and documentation of the item. 70 years ago, they needed items to fill the new museum! So the founders took everything that came across the threshold.... like...
whatever this is? The drawing doesn't really help much...

03/31/2026

Even MORE excitement! The fabulous Lee Ferraro has finished the tin ceiling in the saloon!! Molding and other details to be added next fall. What a heroic effort! 14' up in the air (wondering how many trips up and down?), moving all the saloon items twice, all in the freezing cold! He deserves a trophy! Thanks Lee!!!

03/30/2026

Nothing warms the heart of a collections person... like seeing the 'work in progress' sticky notes come down! ALL the photos done! ALL the music done! ALL THE BOOKS (in this room anyway) done! Data input done, new labels made, every baby step is a victory!!

03/24/2026

03/12/2026

This week in collections, it is all about LITHICS! Cleaning, photographs, measurements, identifying if possible, numbering and entering the data into the data base. What a joy to be able to care for prehistoric items... made by hands so long ago!

03/07/2026

When is fingernail polish NOT fingernail polish? When combined with tiny numbers and tweezers, it is the way to safely affix accession numbers to lithics! There are many versions of stone tools - scrapers, spear or arrow points, knives for cutting, pottery or basket making tools, etc. The newest archaeological protocol, is to NOT pick it up. Left in situ, the artifact can tell much more than if it ends up in a frame. Was the site a 'kill site', a food processing site, or maybe a tool making site? All information helps researchers answer critical questions. Photographs and GPS coordinates are the modern way to help preserve history!

Many museum collections include frames of points found by early settlers but sadly the locations are lost and so are the stories they might have told.... the professional task is to try to identify them and care for them with best museum practices !

02/28/2026

HISTORY! The job of any museum is to caretake it into the future! But sometimes we forget that the museum itself is journey of history... let's look back at some of the progress that has been made over the 69 years of Francisco Fort!