As you saw on our front page, the purpose of this historical society is "is to offer lectures, seminars, and field trips that will help the community learn the history of Donner Summit and the surrounding area, and to collect and display artifacts relative to the history, and to carry on other educational and charitable activities associated with this purpose"
Our long term dream (major goal #1) to achieve that purpose is to build a museum on Donner Summit so that everyone can enjoy the unique and interesting history of Donner Summit. We have our eyes set on the very top of Old Highway 40, the first transontinental highway where we'd like to rebuild the old Division of Highways building. Ultimately we'd like our museum to be more than a museum for the public and the community. We have a vision of a museum building also serving as a community center for the different communities on Donner Summit and maybe as a railway station. Stopping trains again on Donner Summit would connect us to the history - when trains used to stop on Donner Summit, and be a connection to responsibility for the future - energy conservation.
A museum, train station, community center building or complex could also incorporate local businesses. Naturally that lofty goal will require a lot of work. There will be property acquisition, design, fund raising, display designing, machinery restoration (we have promises of various old machinery), contacts, etc. If you would like to particpate to make our dream a reality, please contact the historical society.
To the right are two pictures of the old Division of Highways building. The top picture shows the context of the building on the Summit just west of what is now the ASI building. The bottom picture shows the building as it looked in the 20's with the 20's version of the ASI building in the background.
As a start towards our goal we have opened our first small museum/visitors' center in downtown Soda Springs at the corner of Old 40 and Soda Springs Rd. Click on this link to look at it.
This is just one of our major goals. Our second is to make Old 40 into a 20 mile long museum from Cisco Grove to below Donner Summit. Check out the idea.
Our long term dream (major goal #1) to achieve that purpose is to build a museum on Donner Summit so that everyone can enjoy the unique and interesting history of Donner Summit. We have our eyes set on the very top of Old Highway 40, the first transontinental highway where we'd like to rebuild the old Division of Highways building. Ultimately we'd like our museum to be more than a museum for the public and the community. We have a vision of a museum building also serving as a community center for the different communities on Donner Summit and maybe as a railway station. Stopping trains again on Donner Summit would connect us to the history - when trains used to stop on Donner Summit, and be a connection to responsibility for the future - energy conservation.
A museum, train station, community center building or complex could also incorporate local businesses. Naturally that lofty goal will require a lot of work. There will be property acquisition, design, fund raising, display designing, machinery restoration (we have promises of various old machinery), contacts, etc. If you would like to particpate to make our dream a reality, please contact the historical society.
To the right are two pictures of the old Division of Highways building. The top picture shows the context of the building on the Summit just west of what is now the ASI building. The bottom picture shows the building as it looked in the 20's with the 20's version of the ASI building in the background.
As a start towards our goal we have opened our first small museum/visitors' center in downtown Soda Springs at the corner of Old 40 and Soda Springs Rd. Click on this link to look at it.
This is just one of our major goals. Our second is to make Old 40 into a 20 mile long museum from Cisco Grove to below Donner Summit. Check out the idea.
| See our new building |
| See our opening celebration |
| Check out our idea for Old 40 This is our major goal #2 |