Snake River Heritage Center

A barbecue picnic drew guests from Weiser and its neighboring towns as the SRHC board of directors thanked people who have been striving over the past dozen years to restore Hooker Hall from the devastation it suffered in a June 1994 fire. Restoration work from carpentry to decorating and artifact cleaning to fundraising has been constant since the fire.

Over the past several months, SRHC members have moved many of the historical treasures, including tools and equipment used in the early days of the American West and garment work from the turn of the century to the present, into the corridors of Hooker Hall’s first floor.

Window frames have been rebuilt and re-glazed as a result of a project adopted by Juanita Allen, board member who lives in Boise. A room on the northeast side of the first floor has been completely refurbished, and work is under way on a corner room near it. The power is in and the wall has been replaced and textured as volunteers make plans to move alumni room furnishings, formerly on the third floor, into it upon completion.

In recent days, a group of high school seniors completing their community service project requirements helped SRHC volunteers move heavy furniture from an upper story to the first floor. A couple of years ago, Harper’s Cabin was moved from downtown Weiser to Hooker Hall’s south side yard.

Rae Ann Odoms, SRHC treasurer, handed out certificates as the board thanked volunteers for their work during a post-picnic program in Hooker Hall’s auditorium.

Meanwhile, SRHC secretary Sue Jorgensen and Pat Harberd, the group’s vice president, pointed out various aspects of renovation accomplished since the fire.

A resident of Weiser four-plus years, Jorgensen said she was looking for an engrossing project when she discovered the museum and learned of its need for volunteers. Now, she said, she is dedicated to the restoration and can’t stay away from Hooker Hall and the work that begs to be done.

She credited several men of the community, particularly members of Weiser’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for considerable progress made over the past several months. The prospects for keeping the momentum going, she and Harberd added, are good as the SRHC arranges its summer schedule of keeping the museum open during the weekends, and on other arranged dates.

In June, the museum will be part of the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest and Festival offerings, and in August, it will be the scene of the Weiser High School Class of 1960 reunion.

As the summer draws to a close, graduates of the Intermountain Institute will have their homecoming reunion at Hooker Hall, the hub of their campus and a sort of student union building as well as an entertainment and activity center.

The SRHC, formerly known as the Intermountain Cultural Center and Museum, has been located in Hooker Hall on the grounds of the former Intermountain Institute since 1979.

The museum’s organization dates back to 1960s work by Mary Speropulos Bokides and a handful of other Weiser residents as well as people from surrounding towns who wanted the history of one of the Pacific Northwest’s most successful private educational institutions to be preserved.

Intermountain Institute originated in 1899 as a boarding school where agricultural production including crops, a dairy, a smokehouse and a meat shop helped support operations and pay the tuition of students who could not pay their own. Founded by Edward Anson Paddock, Jane Maria Slocum and Thomas Maryatt, Intermountain Institute fell victim to the Great Depression.

After graduating its last class in 1933, facilities were turned over to the Weiser School District and the National Youth Administration used them in the training of disadvantaged youth.

Paddock’s dreams of reopening Intermountain Institute died when a 1949 court case went against returning the property to the private school. The dairy herd and land were liquidated, with proceeds given to the College of Idaho and Whitman College in Washington.

Weiser High School became the long-term tenant, staying on the campus until the mid-1960s (1967) when it moved to a new site, a few blocks to the south, on the opposite side of Paddock Lane. Western Heavy Equipment School operated on the grounds, primarily from Slocum Hall, for several years after the high school’s vacation. Slocum Hall has become an apartment complex, an industrial building has been turned into an institute of religion, joining Hooker Hall in playing an active role more than a hundred years after the Intermountain Institute was born.

From Ontario Argus-Observer – May 16, 2000