Key Peninsula Historical Society

Hello, my name is Vaughn Library Hall.  I’m about 130 years old and in need of your help.  I’m in serious need of repair but, with the right materials and some loving hands, I’ll be around for many more generations!

I started out as a dance platform in 1889 to celebrate the 4th of July the year our beautiful Washington became a state.  The people of Vaughn had such a good time they decided to make me into their meeting hall and library. In 1893 walls and a roof were added and a tall tower was built on my front corner so visitors could easily find me.

Life was good back then and I was used a lot.  I was where the good people of Vaughn came together for all their celebrations -- weddings, showers, funerals, dances, school plays and graduations.  I became so popular that they first added a stage with dressing rooms to me.  In 1926, my library was too small so a bigger one was built + a kitchen was added to make parties even more fun. 

Whenever the community needed a place to gather, they came to me. But time can change things.  Over time all of the other meeting halls in towns out here were torn down and, by the 1950s, I was sold as a residence.  My beautiful interior was mostly covered up and eventually I was abandoned.   I was the only meeting hall still standing but I was barely standing.

Then, my last owner gifted me to the Key Peninsula Historical Museum and things began to change.  They got me listed on both the Pierce County AND the Washington State list of Historical Places.  They spent an amazing amount of time clearing out and cleaning me and learning more about me, what could be saved and what needed to be replaced.  I was so lucky.  They even had old photos of me in my prime so they could exactly match my original look.  And that is what they are doing right now!

So far that have rebuilt my foundations and repaired my outsides so I won’t fall down!  They found a company that could make exact copies of my original doors and windows.  Now that they’re in my personality is starting to return!

But there’s still so much that needs to be done.  And this is where you can help me.   I am trying to raise $25,000 to help with this next phase of my restoration.  I need new electrical wiring to replace all the old “knob and tube” + new siding to protect me from the elements. I My museum staff is working on securing grants too but they’re really hard to get these days.

I've been referred to as The Sleeping Beauty -- and I am beginning to awaken.  Take a look at my pictures over the years.  I hope someday, in the not-too-distant future, to again host within my walls all those kinds of activities that my community once attended.  I’d love it if you could be there!  Please help!!