Museums 101: The Heritage Museum in Libby, Montana (Photo Diary)

The idea for a museum displaying the history of Libby, Montana began in 1973 with a group of volunteers and the Heritage Museum opened in 1978. The museum is run entirely by volunteers.

Shown above is a ferry boat wheel. Like many western communities, Libby, Montana was founded along a river and the ferry took passengers, livestock, and vehicles across the river when it was not frozen over.

Dioramas:

Tools:

Fire Department:

According to the display:

“You may wonder why these buckets are rounded on the bottom since that would make it difficult, if not impossible, to stand them up. That’s exactly the reason for their design!  The rounded bottom makes them unsuitable for other purposes so they would not be likely to be taken and used as a typical bucket. They had to be hung on hooks or on a fire cart as seen here.”

Logging: