When Ernest Callahan retired from his Port Townsend business, he was looking for a project. He found one-of-a-kind restoration work that catches more than a few glances. Whether it's the Native American sculpture, the dinosaur and/or the miniature castles, Eaglemount Rockeries is not easy to miss.
Eaglemount Rockeries has been a roadside attraction since 1948, perched atop Eaglemount, two miles up State Route 20 from the Highway 101 intersection at Discovery Bay. Before the bluff highway was built, Eaglemount Road was a main route between Discovery Bay and other parts of Jefferson County.
The Wolfer family started building the museum in 1948 as a front-yard project, but it has grown throughout the property with replicas and miniatures of everything from an Indian sweat lodge to Egyptian pyramids and a miniature model of Discovery Bay.
Ernest and his wife, Schen, bought the outdoor museum and 28 acres in 2003 as a 10-year restoration project.
"I don't want to create anything, I just want to restore what's already here," Callahan said.
In the two years he has operated the museum, Callahan has noticed how it helps kids learn about "what's what" and where they are.
"We had some blind kids come through as a party and they just loved it," he said. "They would get up and feel the different exhibits."
The museum has a diversity of exhibits for any interest, from kids to adults, such as the 1950s cottage or the pioneer schoolhouse. Callahan repainted the dinosaur (most visible for those coming up the SR 20 hill) with a smile he said the kids like more than the giant's old expression.
Five of the 28 acres are located on the highway's bay side. Callahan has been busy reclaiming the parcel, overgrown with brush and trees, where he found four hand-sculpted rock fireplaces with cooktops. He hopes to make the parcel accessible as a campground and has begun a permit application process.
"A lot of care went into these," he said of the original fireplaces.
In addition to Callahan's efforts to get the museum reclassified as a historical site, he is also applying for a public water supply so he can offer coffee to visitors from a drive-through coffee bar in the old store. Eaglemount has always been a place with fresh water.
"Water rights are really valuable when you own property," Callahan said. "We're drawing water from an unknown stream."
While Callahan wants to restore the tourist attraction, he's also adding geocaching – a free activity. With geocaching, a person uses a hand-held global positioning system to locate different sites around the world – like a scavenger hunt. The museum has three reference points to locate and a cache, or treasure, with trinkets and a logbook inside. The finders sign the book and take a trinket.
"They use a $2 billion satellite to find Tupperware," Callahan laughed. On March 19, one of his geocaching visitors found the cache and told Callahan that he had found more than 2,000 caches.
About 1,500 people visit Eaglemount Rockeries annually, and Callahan boasts that many are returning visitors.
"A place to see for free," Callahan said with a big smile.
Reader Comments
Posted: Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Article comment by:
R Collins
yes I have stopped there and it is as wonderful as this article says. Thanks to Ernest and his wife, the place is looking grand, I say it want it was not so bad, then bad and now good again. I enjoy this type of newsprint thank you for that too. All keep up the good work
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