Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center

Last updated
Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center 2007 MUSEUM small.jpg
Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center

The Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center (WVMCC) is a museum in Wenatchee, Washington, that houses local and regional history, Native American heritage. [1] One of the artifacts housed is the propeller used in the first trans-Pacific flight. [2]

Contents

Founded in 1939 by the Columbia River Archaeological Society, the museum, is housed in two historic buildings, contains three floors of displays interpreting life along the Columbia River in Eastern Washington. WVMCC hosts a variety of special events and family programs throughout the year.

Exhibits

Propeller from the first trans-Pacific flight

The museum exhibits the propeller [2] from Miss Veedol , the airplane that made the first nonstop trans-Pacific flight. Pilot Clyde Pangborn and co-pilot Hugh Herndon had dropped the planes wheels and landing gear early in the 1931 flight to maintain flying weight, so Pangborn had to skid-land Miss Veedol's American touch-down in the hills of East Wenatchee, and the propeller was damaged during the landing.

Clovis points and other exhibits

Other exhibits include 11,000-year-old Clovis points which were discovered in 1987 in East Wenatchee; petroglyphs recovered prior to the construction of the Rock Island Dam; Native American trade history; a tree fruit exhibit featuring a 1920s-era apple packing line with its unique catapult sizing machine, a model H0 scale train layout portraying three Great Northern Railway routes across the Cascade Mountains from 1892 to the present; Main Street 1910 with a general store, farm shop, house interior, and vintage autos; and a working 1919 Wurlitzer pipe organ.

Programs

Some of the special programs WVMCC presents for children and adults are Super Summer Adventures, geology bus tours, silent movies accompanied by the pipe organ, regional art shows, railroad history field trips, and an annual Environmental Film Festival.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelan County, Washington</span> County in Washington, United States

Chelan County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 79,074. The county seat and largest city is Wenatchee. The county was created out of Okanogan and Kittitas Counties on March 13, 1899. It derives its name from a Chelan Indian word meaning "deep water," likely a reference to 55-mile (89 km)-long Lake Chelan, which reaches a maximum depth of 1,486 feet (453 m).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wenatchee, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Wenatchee is the county seat and most populous city of Chelan County, Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925, and has increased to 35,508 as of 2020. Located in the north-central part of the state, at the confluence of the Columbia and Wenatchee rivers near the eastern foothills of the Cascade Range, Wenatchee lies on the western side of the Columbia River, across from the city of East Wenatchee. The Columbia River forms the boundary between Chelan and Douglas County. Wenatchee is the principal city of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Chelan and Douglas counties. However, the "Wenatchee Valley Area" generally refers to the land between Rocky Reach and Rock Island Dam on both banks of the Columbia, which includes East Wenatchee, Rock Island, and Malaga, as well as the surrounding towns of Monitor and Cashmere to the west of Wenatchee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Wenatchee, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

East Wenatchee is a city in Douglas County, Washington, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 13,190, a 129.1% increase on the 2000 census, having annexed much of the East Wenatchee Bench CDP. As of the 2020 census, the population increased to 14,158.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock Island, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Rock Island is a city in Douglas County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,279 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Misawa Air Base</span> Japanese-American joint air base in Honshū, Japan

Misawa Air Base is an air base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy located in Misawa, Aomori, in the northern part of the island of Honshū of Japan. It is located 3 NM northeast of Misawa railway station, 4.8 km (3.0 mi) west of the Pacific Ocean, 16 km (9.9 mi) northeast of Towada, 29 km (18 mi) northwest of Hachinohe, and 684 km (425 mi) north of Tokyo at the "Tip of the Spear". It is a Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) facility with the 35th Fighter Wing as its host wing. It hosts both Japanese and American troops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Misawa, Aomori</span> City in Tōhoku, Japan

Misawa is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 January 2023, the city had an estimated population of 38,198 in 19493 households, and a population density of 330 persons per km2. The total area of the city is 119.87 square kilometers (46.28 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilliwack</span> City in British Columbia, Canada

Chilliwack is a city of about 100,000 people and 261 km2 (100 sq mi) in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about 100 km (62 mi) east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the greater metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boeing 247</span> Airliner family by Boeing

The Boeing Model 247 is an early American airliner, and one of the first such aircraft to incorporate advances such as all-metal semimonocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing, and retractable landing gear. Other advanced features included control surface trim tabs, an autopilot and de-icing boots for the wings and tailplane. The 247 first flew on February 8, 1933, and entered service later that year.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1931:

<i>Wright Flyer</i> First powered aircraft built by the Wright brothers

The Wright Flyer made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft—an airplane—on December 17, 1903. Invented and flown by brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, it marked the beginning of the pioneer era of aviation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clyde Pangborn</span> American aviator

Clyde Edward Pangborn, nicknamed "Upside-Down Pangborn", was an American aviator and barnstormer who performed aerial stunts in the 1920s for the Gates Flying Circus. He was its half-owner, chief pilot and operating manager, working in partnership with Ivan R. Gates. In 1931, Pangborn and co-pilot Hugh Herndon Jr. flew their plane, Miss Veedol, on the first non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pangborn Memorial Airport</span> Airport

Pangborn Memorial Airport is in Douglas County, Washington, four miles east of Wenatchee, a city in Chelan County. The airport is owned by the Ports of Chelan and Douglas Counties.

<i>Southern Cross</i> (aircraft) Historically significant small fixed-wing aircraft

The Southern Cross is a Fokker F.VIIb/3m trimotor monoplane that was flown by Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm, Harry Lyon and James Warner in the first-ever trans-Pacific flight to Australia from the mainland United States, a distance of about 11,670 kilometres (7,250 mi), in 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Montana History Museum</span>

The Northwest Montana History Museum, at the restored Central School building in Kalispell, Montana, United States, is a history museum featuring exhibits that illuminate the history of the Northwest Montana region and Flathead Valley.

<i>Miss Veedol</i> First airplane to fly non-stop across the Pacific Ocean

Miss Veedol was the first airplane to fly non-stop across the Pacific Ocean. On October 5, 1931, Clyde Pangborn and co-pilot Hugh Herndon landed in the hills of East Wenatchee, Washington, following a 41-hour flight from Sabishiro Beach, Misawa, Japan, across the northern Pacific. The flight won the pair the 1931 Harmon Trophy in recognition of the greatest achievement in flight for that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe Mario Bellanca</span> Italian-American airplane designer

Giuseppe Mario Bellanca was an Italian-American aviation pioneer, airplane designer and builder, who is credited with many design firsts and whose aircraft broke many aviation records. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973. The Bellanca C.F., one of the world's first enclosed-cabin monoplanes, is on display at the National Air and Space Museum. Bellanca was known mostly for his long range aircraft which led the way for the advancement of international and commercial air transportation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wenatchee Valley College</span> Community college in Wenatchee, Washington, U.S.

Wenatchee Valley College (WVC) is a public community college in Wenatchee, Washington. The college provides students with adult education classes, certifications, associate degrees, and four bachelor's degrees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vought V-173</span> Type of aircraft

The Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" was an American experimental test aircraft built as part of the Vought XF5U program during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duane Francies</span>

First lieutenant Duane Francies was a military aviator who earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transpacific flight</span> Flight of an aircraft across the Pacific Ocean

A transpacific flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Pacific Ocean from Australasia, East and Southeast Asia to North America, Latin America, or vice versa. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing aircraft, balloons and other types of aircraft.

References

  1. "Native People of the Columbia Plateau". Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  2. 1 2 Mazhar, Mehek. "Why a museum is carefully preserving a 95-year-old sandwich". CBC Radio . Interview with Anna Spencer produced by Sarah Jackson.

47°25′21″N120°18′39″W / 47.42250°N 120.31083°W / 47.42250; -120.31083