White Springs Ranch Museum and Archival Center

White Spring Ranch Museum and Archival Center (WSR) is a century farm owned by the non-profit organization, Lorang Farm Restoration. WSR includes a house, a log cabin, a curio museum, and a grove surrounded by 300 acres of farmland. This site is a historical treasure trove resembling a community attic with archives and objects gathered and saved by a family willing and able to restore, preserve, and share these histories. This material explains how pioneers John and Mary Lorang moved across the country and bought this site where they worked and raised ten children. WSR tells the story of four generations of one family, the Lorangs, who believed there existed historical value in everyday artifacts. The Lorangs were not famous people nor political or social leaders. They were a family who documented a reflection of the simple farm, providing chronologies of life, work, entertainment, and current events in a rural Palouse town during a span of over 130 years.

White Springs Ranch house, image courtesy of the White Springs Ranch Museum and Archival Center.

 WSR is a significant historical site because of the historical memory found in the written word, the oral histories, the artifacts, and the buildings. Every piece of paper found was used to jot down notes, grocery lists, ledgers, ideas, poems, and stories and every piece of paper was saved. Thus, the archives, which are one of the largest in the area includes; references to world wars, romance, the American West, the Palouse region of Idaho and Washington, Genesee news and history, agricultural history, architectural history, as well as sources of entertainment and daily activities of pioneer residents on the Palouse.

Restoration work at White Springs Ranch, image courtesy of White Springs Ranch Museum and Archival Center.

WSR offers research opportunities, interpretative material, and staff offers historical knowledge and enthusiasm. Museum hours: Tuesday and Sunday 1pm – 5pm or by appointment. Contact: Diane Conroy 208-416-1006.

White Springs Ranch at sunset, image courtesy of the White Springs Ranch Museum and Archival Center.

 References:

Lind, C.E. (2011).  White Spring Ranch and Archive Center Development Plan. Unpublished. University of Idaho.