This property, (including the J. W. & Elizabeth Slagle House and barn and adjacent garden lot), was gifted to the Ferry County Historical Society by founding and long-time member, Dick Slagle. For a number of reasons, work on the House and Barn has been continually deferred to the detriment of the buildings. Innovia Foundation provided a grant for urgently needed exterior painting of the house and barn, which both still had remnants of lead-based paint. The Washington State Department of Commerce, (which oversees lead-based paint mitigation) advised that because the buildings were not used for residential purposes, they could be professionally painted, which would safely encapsulate the lead paint. This was great news as an estimate from a company specializing in lead pain mitigation was between $40,000 and $50,000. Last fall, after a local building contractor inspected the Slagle House and identified several issues needing immediate attention, we applied for grant funding for this work. However, we unfortunately, weren’t successful. We hope that with donations and a new grant application we will be funded and the work can be complete in 2025. We were able to have the two brick chimneys on the House rebuilt last spring by the Curlew Job Corps Masonry students.
The Board of Trustees also plans to develop the vacant garden lot. Work began this spring when Clifford Cahoon, a Historical Society member, consultant, and volunteer, leveled the lot with his tractor. To fill several low spots, The City of Republic was offered an area to dump clean fill material. This has moved the Historical Society closer to realizing our plan of creating the Slagle Historic Site which will include the existing Slagle House, Barn and washhouse, Kauffman Cabin and a new display and storage facility. The Kauffman Cabin is currently located behind the Whitaker-Fletcher Building Museum, (across from Republic city Park) which is owned by the City of Republic. Its move is planned for 2026. If you have driven by the garden lot, you will have noticed several piles of material and rocks scattered at the back of the property. The original rock wall, which provided slope stabilization, was failing and had to be dismantled. With materials we’ve saved plus some we will add, we hope to have a new wall rebuilt next year with some of that grant funding.
The new building will allow the Historical Society to remove larger items from several storage areas to where they can be displayed for the public to enjoy. This will create a much more informative display to complement the J. W. & Elizabeth Slagle House Museum. We are also excited about the new historic marker, recently installed in the front yard. We were able to purchase the marker, commemorating the J. W. and Elizabeth Slagle House as being on the National Register of Historic Places, through a grant from the Pomeroy Foundation.
All of this aligns with future plans to relocate into the current Republic Library once the new library is completed. This location will provide the Historical Society with a larger museum building and a main street presence for the City’s Visitor Information Center. The current library building will offer needed climate control plus basement space to store our collection. Since the building has been in continuous use since it was constructed, it will offer a nearly seamless transition. This location is also an easy walk or drive to the Slagle Historic Site.
We would like to extend a sincere thank you to the following community members for their contributions to this ongoing effort:
Clifford Cahoon, Judy Jeffrey, Snowy, Doug Aubertin, Greg Sheffield, and Curlew Job Corp.
The museums are open for limited hours during the summer months and special summer tours are available.
Do you want to learn more about all that’s going on? Please contact us at P. O. Box 287, Republic, WA 99166, or send an email to fchs@ferrycountyhs.org. Donations in any amount also gratefully acceptedand you can make them here on our website.
Jim Rochelle,
President
Ferry County Historical Society
