Idaho Falls, Idaho is home to the Museum of Idaho which has evolved into a first rate facility that is able to host traveling exhibits and employs a professional staff. Presently they are hosting an exhibit called Space that chronicles the past and speculates on the future of our exploration of Space. Our family went to the museum and paid our entrance and we toured the traveling exhibit and enjoyed it very much. What we were really interested in though was in the older part of the museum where idaho history is featured and where a replica western town called “Eagle Rock USA is located.” Eagle Rock you see is the original name for Idaho Falls.
Eagle Rock is special to us because they guy responsible for designing most of it and building much of it was my father. He and my mother retired in 1983 and moved from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Idaho Falls. I don’t know how Dad got involved in the museum but he did and I know that his volunteer gig building Eagle Rock, along with other volunteers and at times county jail trustees became his second job. I have photos somewhere, but don’t know where they are of the facility under construction.
He not only helped design and build it he also solicited donations of period furniture and fittings for the various “businesses” featured at Eagle Rock, such as the dentist office, lawyers office, carpenter, and blacksmith and general store. Dad donated a bunch of stuff that he had. The sleeping bag above, used to be his when he worked for the Forest Service. It was very warm, with the canvas outer and everything. My brother Bob and I used it from time to time for our Boy Scout camping trips way back when.
That’s Dad’s tag on it.
The Rex Rooms of Idaho Falls was also where the lonely men of Idaho Falls were able to find comfort and companionship, if you know what you mean. Several people didn’t really like its inclusion in Eagle Rock USA but it stayed.
Here is the Sheriff’s office, complete with jail. I meant to take a photo or several showing the overall setup of Eagle Rock USA but I neglected to do so. Sorry about that.
Carpenter’s Shop
And dentist. I’m old enough that I dentists had setups like this when I was a kid.
The museum has a nice plaque with my Dad’s name on it. So it was nice to see something that he did that survives him.
I’m linking with Our World Tuesday