From the desk of Evan Robb

The Washington Rural Heritage initiative is pleased to announce the first of several new digital collections we’ll be unveiling this fall. For its 2009-2010 grant project the Benton City branch of Mid-Columbia Libraries partnered with the Kiona-Benton City Historical Society to digitize a variety of materials highlighting the history of this rural community on Washington’s Yakima River. The collection documents agriculture, irrigation district development, and railroad construction in the area, and depicts some of Benton City’s earliest family farms and public figures.

Of particular interest are a collection of glass plate negatives from a local private collection. The negatives were discovered around 1970, in the attic of a home being rented by Benton City residents Chuck and Betty Morgan. Some of the negatives were enclosed in paper envelopes with short descriptions, presumably written by the unidentified photographer. When project staff sat down to examine the negatives in late February, 2010, we found more than a few cracks and glass shards, some scuffed and blurry images, and plenty of flaking photo emulsion. But as we began carefully scanning the negatives, we were astonished to find beautifully preserved images of Benton City from over a century ago. Images such as: Mrs. McAlpin’s sewing club (1903); a water wheel on the Yakima (1904); the Yakima River, frozen over at the Kiona Bridge (1909); and Stacking hay at J.B. Palmer’s farm (1908) (within moments of scanning this negative, Mid-Columbia Library staff excitedly reported that the photo was taken from the roughly the spot upon which we were standing-the Benton City Library!).

Other highlights of Kiona-Benton City Heritage:

• Material from the Benton City branch library collection, such as a 1912 promotional booklet written to entice land buyers to the area, and a 1959 local history of Benton City.  Thanks to the Library’s digitization efforts, Benton City students will now be able to research their town’s history from any computer with Internet access.
• A collection of paintings and screen prints by local artist, Bob Dunlap, who has been documenting Benton City’s people, places and events for decades (and sharing his knowledge with the community). A few of our favorites include this poster for the Benton City Jr. Rodeo; this painting of an early homestead; and this schedule of high school basketball games from 1965-66.
• Important texts documenting irrigation development in the area, including the 1917 formation of the Kiona Irrigation District.

The Benton City branch of Mid-Columbia Libraries will be celebrating the publication of this collection with an open house exhibition on Saturday, October 2, 10am-3pm (learn more). A big thanks to our participants in Benton City for their hard work researching, digitizing, and cataloging these materials. With the knowledge and experience they have gained over the past year, they will surely be able to sustain and build upon this fantastic local history collection!