Random Rambler: West Jordan Historical Museum: Pumpkin Walk

The West Jordan Historical Society holds an annual Pumpkin Walk in October at the West Jordan Historical Museum. We have been wanting to come check out the museum for a while now, but their regular hours just don’t work for us and our jobs. But, this special event fell on a Saturday so we figured we would finally come check it out.

Quick Details:

Length: Depends on how much you wander about. We did about 3/4 of a mile.
Trail Type: Meander
Difficulty: DR2. Its flat and easy.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: No, but there are several located in Veterans Memorial Park.
Dogs? I think they are allowed outside, but not in the museum itself.
Other Info: The event was $3 for 12 and under. $2 for older than 12. On regular Tuesdays and Thursdays 1-5 PM when it is open it is donation based.

To Get Here:

The museum grounds are located at the middle north end of Veterans Memorial Park at 2358 West 7800 South. From i15 take the 7200 South exit heading west. skootch over to 7800 south using 7th west, 13th west, or Redwood. keep heading west to the north entrance of the park at 1985 West and turn left.

Alternately you can take Trax using the West Jordan City Center Station. It is then just a ~15 minute walk.

The Adventure:

Some pretty trees on our way to the museum from our parking spot.

It was a busy little event, so we had to park a little bit away, but it wasn’t super crazy busy, so that was nice.

Some of the neat old buildings from outside of the grounds.

Old barn.

The back of a little cottage.

The entrance.

Fee’s. It tickled me that for like the first time ever, something was cheaper for adults than it was for children!

I thought that was because the kids would be ‘trick or treating’ and getting candy and such, but they gave us bags and encouraged us to do the same… so… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Meh, it worked out I guess. Neither of us wanted any candy, but some of the artsy things where fun.

The front of the little cottage, with some fun tombstones.

Again.

Closer. It is super cute!

Peering into the window, it looks like it was an old soda shop or something. Weird.

I did not notice any information sign to tell us what it is, how old it is, if it was originally here or what. I am sure that information exists somewhere but, we did not find it today.

Ope, I found the website (outside link). I guess this was West Jordan's first soda fountain/ lunch counter/small groceries business from 1937 called The Cottage Inn. Fun! I guess they are still working on restoring it and from the sounds of it may be open to explore eventually. It doesn't say where it was originally but it does sound like not here.

Big old barn of some sort. Again, no information sign that we noticed.

According to the website this is the Steadman Barn. it is over 100 years old and is 2 stories. It was donated to the museum in 2007. It moved about a mile from 2200 West 7200 South. They are still working on restoring this as well and have plans to turn it into a dairy museum.

If I understand it correctly, most of the other buildings are original to the West Jordan Homestead which is now the Historical Museum.

Neat wood carved statue. It looks like an old trapper of some sort.

Into the event. Oh boy it’s looks busy.. luckily it was not as bad as it looks here.

Old farm equipment.

Goats!

Old trailer of some sort.

Willard Richardson Blacksmith. It is a fully functional blacksmith shop. Mr Richardson was an early West Jordan resident.

Well neat! We actually got to see a blacksmith working.

Into the fire. Many of Mr. Richardson’s original handmade blacksmith tools and hand forged items are on display according to the website.

Working the bellows. Actually, I am not sure if they are still called bellows when it is a crank versus the pumping accordion style. But, it is still pretty darn neat to see and hear.

I snuggled on this little goat for a minute. She’s super cute!

Heber Valley Milk… so obviously that sign at least is not originally from here.

According to the website it is an 1886 granary building. Not sure if it is original to the property to moved in.

Motor and brush to wash milk bottles. Neat.

Other various tools that I did not investigate more closely.

Another neat old sign. A quick google search indicates this appears to have been local.

Old memorabilia.

So as I mentioned they plan to turn the barn into a dairy museum so I imagine all of this stuff will be moved to that. I wonder what they will do with this old building when that happens.

Some of the pumpkins.

Looking towards the main house.

Old chicken coop. I did not see any chickens, so I am not sure if it is active or not.

Another random old building of some sort.

I love the Wicked Witch of the West blowup! I might need to find one for my yard.

More old farm equipment.

More pumpkins. I’m not sure I would really call this a pumpkin walk. Yes there are pumpkins, but I guess I kind of expected… well … a lot more.

We made it to the main museum building.

The front. I am not sure if this is always the case, or just today, but we entered and exited from the back.

Inside. It looks like they have turned this room into the main office.

Neat old phone switchboard. The sign says: “Old PBX phone reception center. Formerly used in an Ogden car dealership.” Neat!

The kitchen.

I lived in a house that had the same basic setup for a minute. I kind of miss that old house… even if it was small and drafty. Anyway, the point is that this was a very common kitchen setup for a good while.

Memorabilia.

Bathroom.

Sink and mirror and a mummy friend.

The toilet appears to be in working order, but as I understand it is not for public use. As mentioned, the park has a few options.

Small side room, probably a smaller bedroom.

With some Halloween decorations. You know, I really dig exploring older buildings with Halloween decorations. It is just extra spooky fun!

I didn’t pick up why there where old posters of boxers lining this room. Googling Ernie Hunick just brings up articles about Chalky Wright. I did find that Floyd Richardson lived in West Jordan.. but otherwise just... what?

The website says this is related to World Middle Class Champion Boxer Gene Fulmer and his trainer and friend Marv Jensen. Mr. Fulmer was born and raised in West Jordan.

Random saddle.

The kitchen again.

One of the front rooms.

Fun carousal horse.

I believe this is what the website refers to as a carousal horse from the original Saltair! Fun!

Early Settlers. The Rock Church in the center still stands! It is across the street from Gardner Village. We’ve done a quick drive by of it, but haven’t explored it much more yet. But it is neat! I might have to make a special trip out to explore it more sometime.

More fun Halloween.

The other front room.

I was a little overstimulated with the events today and didn't really explore and take in as much of the history as I would have liked. Meh, I guess that just means we need to come back again. Maybe not when they are doing a big fun event and is a little more quiet.

More fun Halloween.

West Jordan School. I don't think this still exists.

Old wardrobes.

Old organ.

More old stuff.

Fun old pinball style game.

The other front room again.

I am totally just assuming this used to be a covered porch converted into an old laundry room. But, honestly I am not 100% sure.

The other side.

This is super neat! It reminds me a lot of Fielding Garr Ranch.

Super old phone. I gave the crank a spin and it gave the bells a jingle. Neat!

Old laundry products.

Old loom wiring dating back to 1901.

Mining equipment.

Mining deeds.

I know there is a Tintic high school near Eureka, but I am not sure if that is the same place this is referring.

The kitchen again.

Old refrigerator.

Correction: it is an old GE Refrigerating Machine. Funny how we apparently went from refrigerating machine, to refrigerator, to just fridge.

Old stove.

The switchboard again.

The back door… which seemed to be the main entrance today.

Oof, a little busy back here in what we dubbed “kiddie land”.

Another cute little cottage. They were using it as a fishing game today so I couldn’t get great pictures. And again, no sign I can find. I guess it is technically big enough for a bed and stove, but still seems quite small.

The website doesn't mention this building at all.

Neat old tree.

More trees.

The east side of the museum.

Again.

Outhouse. It’s locked up, but uh, I don’t have any desire to explore it hah.

Fun headless horseman decoration.

Amazing Beetlejuice display.

Cute inflatables.

Smells like something died in here. HAH! I totally want it!

The little milk cottage again.

The blacksmith shop again.

The little locked building again. The signs are confusing, but I guess you can get a reward of $200 or $1000 for reporting vandalism.

The chicken coop.

The milk shack.

I got to snuggle the other goat friend. And feed her. She was surprisingly more gentle than I expected. The handler was awesome and provided a lot of information, including that this goat was a specific kind, which apparently you can tell by the ears. o.O I asked about the floppy eared goats and he knew that one too, but I can’t remember either of them sadly. But, that is a nifty little factoid I picked up today. Goats are identified by their ears, it would seem.

I just want to be friends with them! They are so cute.

Little silo.

The little trailer has a Zultan frame. I kind of feel like the illusion is killed a little bit with the packaging in the background.

The back of the trailer.

Old farm equipment.

The old barn again.

The little cottage at the south end again.

Again.

Little bit of color.

Back side of the barn.

The trees lining the park look great right now.

Lovely view of the mountains.

More trees (PSP).

Well that was a lot of fun, actually more fun than I anticipated haha, but we are both nerds who love history and Halloween so it was pretty much right up our alleys haha. The museum was great! I do want to come back when I am not as overstimulated though so I can learn more of the history of the area. The Halloween stuff was neat too. They did a great job. Our kids are too old, but I am sure they would have loved it a few years ago. 9 out of 10 squirrels!