A Weekend in the Valley

With a forecast of a warm and sunny weekend, the four of us decided to head towards Silverton, in the Willamette Valley for a weekend away. We packed both days full of stops at museums and gardens which left us with over 700 pictures. For the sake of our readers, we will break it down by location. Stop number one was the old Thomas Lister Kay Mission Mill a few blocks away from the state capital in Salem, Oregon.

Before taking off to explore on our own, we had a tour of the four historic buildings on the premises, originally part of a Methodist Mission founded in the 1840's. We walked through a Parsonage, which housed married missionaries on the first floor, singles on the second and any visitors passing through in the attic, the John D. Boon house, the Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church and the Jason Lee House, which occupied four families, including the leader of the Methodist Mission to Oregon. Each structure was complete with furnishings of the time period as well as some original pieces to the first inhabitants of the mission.

Next, we moved on to the mill, which had exhibits showing the process of taken virgin wool and cleaning it, carding it, spinning it and then weaving it into fabrics and blankets. The mill closed in the 1950's, but all the equipment in the mill is original and some pieces are still operated. The mill was run by electricity generated from a turbine that was turned by a creek. As you walk through the mill, you can see the various pulleys and belts that turned to operate the machinery.

The buildings are beautifully maintained and the grounds are gorgeous. We highly recommend a stop at the mill if you are ever passing by. There is also a cafe and shops which had unique items, as well as yarns for the crafter.

Time cards

There are days I would LOVE a washing machine this big!

Carding the wool

Large scale carding

Weaving the yarns

Blacksmith shop

Mill creek

Jason Lee house on right, Presbyterian church on left

This cast iron cookware made me think of another blogger over here.

A collection basket used in the church.

Bible from the 1840's, original to one of the missionaries, hauled by horseback from the East.

Jason Lee house.

Woolen mill.

I hope you enjoyed our little tour! Up next: stop number two, the Oregon Garden Resort.