Payette County Museum

Payette County Museum The Payette County Museum is working hard to preserve the history of the county and it's founders.

Mail for the Museum is not delivered to our physical location. Please send all correspondence to PO Box 696, Payette, ID 83661
Street parking available. Housed in a historical, Methodist Episcopal Church that was built in 1904, the Payette County Museum continually works to provide a central location for storing and displaying the history from Payette County, Idaho. PCHS oversees the Hughes Memori

al Scholarship which is open to any senior at Payette High School who intends to further their schooling after high school. Applications should include contact information, a short biography that also tells the student's future goals, a transcript, and two reference letters. We welcome scholarship applications from students planning to attend a trade school or community college. Applications should be sent to the museum by April 15th and applicants will be contacted for personal interviews. We will accept applications via e-mail as long as all parts of the application have been attached. Remember to include contact information so we can call you for your interview! Members and guests are invited and welcome to attend the monthly Payette County Historical Society meetings. The meetings are held on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 3:30pm. Donations can be made by mail or by using the below PayPal link:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=J4NXR5WNR8XXN

Membership Application Link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6capvslj48m48co/Payette%20Co%20Museum%20Membership%20App.pdf?dl=0&fb=1&fb_action_ids=10204657230129258&fb_action_types=dropboxdropbox%3Aadd

Our Museum Coordinator Ann Curtis has repeatedly asked us to bring in a new worker who can learn the job from her. It wo...
04/22/2026

Our Museum Coordinator Ann Curtis has repeatedly asked us to bring in a new worker who can learn the job from her. It would begin as a volunteer position. Interested persons please apply at the museum.

January is when we close out our obituary book from the previous year. January is when we look over our records and cont...
01/14/2026

January is when we close out our obituary book from the previous year. January is when we look over our records and contemplate the year ahead. We keep old phone books, school yearbooks, and history books about this area.

Like many places the main reason for the remaining towns in this county is the rivers and the railroad. Our first railroad agent lived in the little hut the railroad provided while he had a big house built. His wife gathered whatever red, white, and blue fabric she could find and created an American flag with the extra star to represent Idaho the day after it was recognized as a state.

One of the first doctors in Payette, Ira Woodward, liked to go hiking on his vacation time. He would take along a pack mule, go without shaving, and looked like a real hobo after a while. While he was hiking he gathered samples and evidence to help discover the source of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. He and his brother also funded this beautiful stained glass window in honor of their mother Jennie.

01/08/2026

Very sorry, but the museum will be closed today due to illness.

Our Ann was under the weather today so volunteers were in, trying to keep things up to her standards. While closing up (...
01/07/2026

Our Ann was under the weather today so volunteers were in, trying to keep things up to her standards. While closing up (turning off lights) a damp spot was noted and photographed in case more knowledgeable members/volunteers want some documentation.

UPDATE: volunteer Bob Mink reports that the gearbox of the old washtub has chosen this season to begin leaking oil. Definitely less of a problem than a water leak.

Gifted to the museum yesterday was a box of old books - mostly 1915 to 1940 - on a very broad range of topics from Lati...
01/03/2026

Gifted to the museum yesterday was a box of old books - mostly 1915 to 1940 - on a very broad range of topics from Latin, Shakespeare, horse training, and real estate appraisal. Getting them all indexed took most of the afternoon.

12/30/2025

The museum will only be open Friday and Saturday this week. We hope to see you soon.

Helpers Dale and Marjorie Coate, Anna Fitch, and Lucinda Sutherland got together Tuesday to take down the Christmas deco...
12/30/2025

Helpers Dale and Marjorie Coate, Anna Fitch, and Lucinda Sutherland got together Tuesday to take down the Christmas decorations. The museum will be closed New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. We will open again on Friday, but our Coordinator Ann Curtis will not return until Saturday. She requested her birthday (Friday) off.

12/21/2025

The museum will be closed December 24th and 25th for the holidays. We will reopen on Friday the 26th.

12/13/2025

PCHS Museum Coordinator Ann Curtis has been asking our Board Of Directors to advertise for a trainee for her position. It's a big job for very little pay but it makes a huge difference to our community.

We have a new volunteer from Treasure Valley Classical Academy doing a service project. Jayden Hayes is helping categori...
12/13/2025

We have a new volunteer from Treasure Valley Classical Academy doing a service project. Jayden Hayes is helping categorize and organize the old newspapers in broken boxes. Then we can tell our board of directors exactly how many archival boxes we need to purchase.

Our "new" Titanic exhibit is almost ready. Two survivors really did move to Payette for a while. Mrs. Charlotte Collyer ...
12/12/2025

Our "new" Titanic exhibit is almost ready. Two survivors really did move to Payette for a while. Mrs. Charlotte Collyer and her daughter Marjorie, after the loss of Mr. Harvey Collyer in the disaster, traveled to Payette to join their friends the John Hallet family and try growing apples.

Address

90 S 9th Street
Payette, ID
83661

Opening Hours

Wednesday 12pm - 4pm
Thursday 12pm - 4pm
Friday 12pm - 4pm
Saturday 12pm - 4pm

Telephone

(208) 642-4883

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Payette County Museum posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Museum

Send a message to Payette County Museum:

Shortcuts

Share

Category