Troy Museum and Visitors Center celebrates 50th anniversary

Wandering through the Troy Museum is an entertaining look at the area’s heritage and history.

When it opened on Memorial Day weekend, it celebrated the 50th anniversary. But it didn’t always sit on the small piece of land on the north side of U.S. 2 entering Troy where Lake Creek rumbles through on its way to the Kootenai River.

After opening in 1973, the museum’s home was next to the train station. When that shut down, it was time for a new home. The town’s mini mall sits in the location now.

Lincoln County officials bought the land from Stimson Lumber Company and gave it to Troy.

Lifelong resident Clint Taylor, who has been involved in most things happening in Troy for decades, said the building, which was part of the train station, was moved on wheels to its current location in 1987.

“We’ve done some modifications over the years and we have a few new small buildings that we’ll have ready soon that will show life as it was 100 years ago,” Taylor said.

The buildings will be replicas of an old miner’s cabin and an old hotel.

Visitors may also enjoy leafing through scrapbooks of old newspaper clippings or the town’s jail records from 1918 to 1952.

Some may enjoy seeing a grizzly bear rug that was made after Jim Carr bagged a great bruin many, many years ago.

One may also pick up a copy of Marjorie J. Pomeroy’s 1991 publication, “Troy Montana Yesterdays - Railroad Memories.”

Pomeroy wrote about the demise of the depot in its centennial year which occurred 32 years ago. She has written extensively, compiled and cobbled together many old notes, stories and tales of Troy and Bull Lake. Readers of The Western News were also fortunate to have read Pomeroy’s stories she submitted for a number of years.

But the demise of the depot didn’t mean the old structures were destroyed.

Of course, the train station became the museum, and a caboose was also moved to the Museum and Visitor Center grounds. The water tank that gave old steam engines their power now graces Roosevelt Park as a concession stand where folks cook food of various types to feed the crowds that gather there for many events in pleasant weather.

Pomeroy shared recollections of Vic Sather, who arrived in Troy in 1909 to work as telegraph operator for the Great Northern Railroad.

“When I arrived in Troy, it had the reputation as the toughest little town in the state.”

Sather explained how Troy was an important stop on the Great Northern Route because it was halfway between Spokane, Washington, and Whitefish, Montana. Certainly, the rail line’s importance couldn’t be understated since it was the only way to move between such locations because no road had been built to Libby or Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

Another treat is visiting with the volunteers who keep hours in the museum, including Taylor and Jeff Gromley.

The museum grounds also include a nature trail, frisbee golf course and picnic tables. Unique to the museum is the wooden sign carved entirely by chainsaw by Dave Clarke of Eureka. Fridays in season there is a Farmer’s Market.

The museum is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday through Labor Day weekend.