Key Peninsula Historic Society

Museum displays and exhibits of historical significance to our local communities. Objective: To present the history of the life and times of the people who have lived, worked, and died in all the small communities on the Key Peninsula. Our community displays are created by our dedicated team of volunteers to provide a unique representation of each area on the Key Peninsula and were recently updated to highlight new artifacts and restored photographs and pictures which will serve to educate the general public about our local history for many years to come. Our annual exhibit features a different subject or topic each year. This past year depicted road development on the Key Peninsula from the early days of trails and dirt roads up to today's modern roadways and highlighted information about how each road received its name. Many published maps of the roads on the Key Peninsula were displayed to show how the roads developed and changed over the past 125 years and featured many restored photographs of road construction equipment used to build these roads during different periods of time. Our dedicated team of volunteers spent approximately 150 hours (estimated) researching and developing these displays and exhibits during the current fiscal year. Total expenses for this program service accomplishment during fiscal year 2024-2025 were $3,191.

Peninsula High School student scholarship program awards. Objective: To help defray the high cost of college and university tuition fees for deserving students who meet the criteria and qualifications for these financial awards. We awarded $1,000 scholarships to two graduating high school seniors this past year who have primarily demonstrated an interest in the history of the Key Peninsula. Our fundraising activities and donations by concerned citizens throughout the year help us to support this extremely important local education program. Our dedicated team of volunteers spent approximately 40 hours (estimate) working on this program during the current fiscal year. Total expenses for this program service accomplishment during fiscal year 2024-2025 were $2,000.

Historical outreach events and school activities. Objective: To continuously develop the history of the Key Peninsula through many other outreach events and school activities throughout the community each year. These include: (1) The Livable Community Fair and The Winter Warm-up at the Key Peninsula Civic Center, as well as the Farm Tour at the Longbranch Improvement Club and the "Art Walk" in Key Center sponsored by the Two Waters Art Alliance; (2) We conduct a Living History Day for third and fourth graders from Vaughn Elementary School each year at our museum and give the local elementary teachers access to our Traveling History Tote that meets the criteria for Common Core State Standards used to teach the next generation of students about the history of the Key Peninsula;(3) We make historical presentations to campers at Penrose Point State Park during the Summer months each year; and, (4) We also help local authors and citizens perform family genealogical research from our extensive data files on those families who settled here in the early years of the Key Peninsula. We sponsored or participated in these community activities to reach about 2,000 citizens (estimate) from our area of Pierce County and used about 2,400 hours (estimate) of help from our dedicated team of volunteers during the current fiscal year. Total expenses for this program service accomplishment during fiscal year 2024-2025 were $525.