Let’s Talk About: Pest Houses

by Donna Phillips

Perhaps an unfortunate ancestor spent time in a pest house? Why? What were “pest houses” anyway? (The above image spotlights a YouTube video.)
“Pest House,” is the sad term for an isolated hospital, often away from towns, often shoddily built and poorly maintained and the condition of those housed there was often quite awful. 


Back in the day, people with contagious or communicable diseases such as leprosy, TB, cholera, diphtheria, smallpox, typhus and many more, were shunted away from society for there was no effective treatment or cure. Such unfortunates were isolated until they either somehow recovered or died. “Municipalities in the day didn’t want to waste county money on caring for the walking dead.” (HereLiesAStory.com, 16 Jun 2023)


Arrival ocean ports often had quarantine areas…as did our own Washington:

(U.S. Marine Quarantine Hospital on Diamond Point, between Sequim and Port Townsend 1905.)


In the early 1900s, Spokane County had a “pest house” located in Riverside State Park, near the Bowl and Pitcher, to isolate those with contagious diseases.
Seattle’s “pest house” was on Beacon Hill, a location chosen “due to its proximity to a town dump and a gully used for waste disposal.” The description of this place reads like a horror movie script: “filthy floors, leaky roofs, lacking proper sanitation, totally dilapidated.” (The place was destroyed by fire in 1914 and the site became a golf course. HistoryLink.org, #2157.)
Blessedly, the need for such places disappeared with the advent of vaccines to cure many diseases. 

Do watch that YouTube video.

Clark County Genealogical Society Trail Breakers Volume 50

by Charles Hansen

Trail Breakers Volume 50, July 2023 – June 2024 is now available to the public on the Clark County Genealogical Society (CCGS) website! Get a PDF copy here or view the issue in our library.

What’s inside?

  • Continued abstraction of Ridgefield Reflector records
  • Stories about the founders of Hayden Island, pioneers Gay and Mary J. Hayden
  • The first excerpt of 1893 Washington biographies from An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, 1893
  • Many tips and DIY steps for your own digital preservation of family stories
  • And much, much, more…

Past issues of Trail Breakers are available on the CCGS website under the Library menu. Or visit the CCGS library or the Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries to view the full 50-year collection of publications. Please note, for a limited time the current volume 51 is available only to CCGS members.

Trail Breakers Call for Articles

The Trail Breakers Editorial staff invites submission of research articles, essays and reviews for publication in the Trail Breakers. We encourage articles of genealogical interest as well as articles that foster family history sharing and research. While we appreciate articles with Northwest family connections, family stories from other geographic areas will also be considered. Questions? Contact Marcia Grubb at marica@ccgswa.org.

See all the details regarding authorship and submission here.

More questions? Send an email to info@ccgswa.org.

Clark County Genealogical Society

3205 NE 52nd Street

Vancouver, WA 98663

Website: https://www.ccgs-wa.org/

Italian Interest Group of the Eastside Genealogical Society Free Webinar Direct from Italy

by Charles Hansen
FREE WEBINAR DIRECT FROM ITALY ** SPECIAL TIME **
“On Food and Fascism”
Description: Karima Moyer-Nocchi will give a lecture based on her book: Chewing the Fat – An Oral History of Italian Foodways from Fascism to Dolce Vita. This highly engaging and visually driven presentation will examine the ways in which the politics of the fascist era (1922-1943) influenced the Italian culinary identity from a socio-cultural perspective and the role it played in the conceptual development of Italian cuisine as we know it today. The lecture will explore the tenets of Oral History in general and then looks specifically at how this method of data collection opens a unique window onto food history research. Moyer-Nocchi analyzes the notion of “authenticity” and reveals how some of the best-loved myths of Italian food are part of an invented set of traditions. That view is balanced through a closer look at how traditions, invented or otherwise, play an important part in societal healing and cultural progression in Italy. The presentation will conclude with a performance of selected excerpts from the book. 
                          ZOOM Meeting When:           20-Sep-2025, Saturday
Time:             10:00 AM (PDT) ***** SPECIAL TIME ***** Presenter:   Karima Moyer-Nocchi
Kerri Tannenbaum Speaker Bio: Karima Moyer-Nocchi is a noted culinary historian specializing in Italian cuisine. In her work, she reconstructs histories through a culinary lens, with an eye on myth busting, evident in her acclaimed publications “Chewing the Fat – An Oral History of Italian Foodways from Fascism to Dolce Vita” and “The Eternal Table: A Cultural History of Food in Rome“. Her upcoming book is “An Epic History of Macaroni and Cheese from Ancient Rome to Modern America” for Columbia University Press for which she was an ICJS Fellow at the Jefferson Foundation in Monticello and a Smithsonian Fellow at the National Museum of American History. An advocate for experiential learning, she encourages “hands-on history” as reflected in her popular Instagram account: @historicalitalianfood and website: theeternaltable.com. Born and educated in the United States, Moyer-Nocchi has made Italy her home since 1990. She teaches in the Modern Languages department at the University of Siena and currently resides in Umbria. Link to “Chewing the Fat” book: the link.
If you aren’t a registered member, you must request meeting access. Below is the link to request a meeting invitation. Please send me an invitation
COUNTDOWN TO THE MEETING:
Days Hours Minutes Seconds
Eastside Genealogical Society
– Italian Interest Group P.O. Box 374
Bellevue, WA 98009-0374

Puget Sound Genealogical Society Western Trails Following the Seven T’s

by Charles Hansen

Upcoming Puget Sound Genealogical Society Program.  Our August Program will be on Wednesday, August 27 at 1pm.  It will be “Western Trail- Following the Seven T’s ” with Steven W. Morrison

The major trails from the Midwest to the west will be covered in this session. The principal routes will include the Oregon and California Trails, the Mormon migration, the Santa Fe Trail, and more. These were the OVERLAND RIVERS which helped populate the West.  Social time starts at 12:30. Program will start at 1:00pm.

This will be hybrid with in person at the Sylvan Way Library (1301 Sylvan Way, Bremerton, WA) and on Zoom. The Zoom link will be posted on our website and Facebook page on Aug 26.

For details see www.psgsociety.org.

Let’s Talk About: An Ode to Glass

by Donna Phillips

 Disclaimer:  I snipped this from the James Bay Victoria Beacon newspaper in March 2025 when I visited Butchart Gardens. I thought it was SO GOOD that I had to share. Big thanks, Colin Couper.

Water is required to wipe away dirt, and to clean away the haze,

it only takes a little work and now I look on brighter days.

I can see right through you, I can see through your pane,

you’re really quite special, when we all can see again.

From in the house, you protect me, shield me from the rain and cold,

in the mirror you reflect my image that shows me getting old.

You can totally change my outlook, spectacles correct my outward vision,

You’re even on the Hubble telescope, where you’re grounded to precision.

Now you can hold your liquor, lots of whiskey, wine and beer,

you can be molded in beauty and can be made crystal clear.

You are strong but also you are brittle, both at the same time,

and your character can be shattered, broken at the scene of crime.

As a windshield on the open highway, you keep debris from our eyes,

and sadly, we take you for granted, no longer a bright surprise.

You are truly a unique specimen in society a needed touch of class,

so, to you we raise our drinking vessels as we thank, and toast you, Mr. Glass.

=Let’s Talk About: WA’s Garden Gems

by Donna Phillips

Thanks to Ice Storm ’96, the Moore-Turner Heritage Garden was rediscovered. Built between 1889 and 1932 as a residential garden but was largely abandoned in the 1930s and the historic home demolished in 1940. Although the Spokane Parks & Rec Dept acquired the property in 1945, most of what was once a beautiful garden (complete with pond–see above then and now) was lost to memory and time.


Fast forward to today when after extensive research and recovery (and clearing away of Ice Storm debris and plants gone wild), the garden is once again open for visiting. Tiz a small garden; in less than an hour you can walk all the paths (beware: they’re mostly uphill).Washington boasts many similar wonderful gardens. Let’s go and aren’t we lucky!!

* Seattle – Dunn Garden * Seattle – Highland SeaTac Botannical Garden* Seattle – Japanese Garden* Seattle – Chinese Garden* Spokane – Manito Park Garden* Yakima – Ohme Gardens* Federal Way – Powells Garden* Bainbridge Island – Bloedel Reserve Garden* Port Angeles – Port Angeles Fine Art Center (is a garden!)

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Diseases Our Ancestors Faced and How Those Illnesses Changed Our World

by Charles Hansen

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Presents: 

“Diseases Our Ancestors Faced and How Those Illnesses Changed Our World” 

Presented by: Dr Gregory Gardner MD, MACP

Date: September 06, 2025   Time: 12:30 PM to 03:00 PM

Location:  IN PERSON at the HIVE 2904 E Sprague, Spokane (Door Code: 985426)

 AND VIA ZOOM (Zoom link will be on the website the day prior to the presentation)

Doors open at 12:30 p.m. for light refreshments and social time, with the program beginning promptly at 1:00 p.m. 

The event is free and open to all who are interested in genealogy, history, or public health. 

Please print your handouts prior to the event. (available on the website 9/5/25)

Dr. Gardner, a respected physician and educator, will explore several of the major diseases that struck fear in past generations—illnesses that shaped family histories, migration patterns, and even global events. Drawing from death records, historical documents, and modern research, this talk will illuminate how our ancestors’ experiences with disease influenced the world we live in today. 

This is part of EWGS’s ongoing mission to provide engaging and educational programs to support family history research. EWGS is proud to be celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2025, continuing a long tradition of connecting people through genealogy.

Raffles   $50/50$   Cookies   Free Table  

Let’s Talk About: This & That

by Donna Phillips

Q: If your house was on fire, or if a wildfire was heading your way, and you only had time to save 5 things, what would they be??? Think about it. It could happen to YOU.

** Parmesan Ice Cream? An unusual flavor of ice cream graced spoons in the 1700s: parmesean. The first-ever recipe for Parmesean cheese ice cream was published in 1789. Would you like it?

**In Japan, various flavors of Kit-Kat candy bars are available. These include cough drop, rum raisin, melon with mascarpone, sake wasabi, matcha, strawberry and melty caramel. Which one would you try?

** In Thailand, folks can buy Oreo-flavored Coco-Cola and Coca-Cola flavored Oreos. Really!

** Petrichor is the word for the smell of rain. How would YOU describe the smell of rain?

** Brontology is not the study of brontosauers but is the study of thunder. File that in your “when-I-go-on-Jeopardy” file. 

** Spokane Daily Chronicle, Monday, April 4, 1949: Documents Indicate Woman Died at 117.  Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. “Sarah E. Moore of Rathdrum died there Saturday and her age was determined to have been 117. Mrs. A.A. Berges (Donna’s note: her stepmother), with whom the widow of a Civil War veteran had lived, said today that papers among her effects showed conclusively that she was born in South Carolina on April 4, 1832. She had lived with Mrs. Berges for 20 years.” Sarah rests in Forest Cemetery in Coeur d’Alene.

Heritage Quest Research Library Educational Classes

by Charles Hansen
Please Join Us for our educational classes to learn more about researching your family roots! (offered online via Zoom and in person at HQRL) Cost per individual: Non-members – $25 Members – $20
September 4, 2025 11am to 12pm PDT Means, Motive & Opportunity: The Sad Saga of George Richards This case study of a man whose choices served to confuse his descendants is reconstructed in this lecture. He was there, then gone, then back—see how a variety of records, unlocked his real story. From England to the US, George’s life was filled with conundrums and poor choices. See how to locate original records (not all online), separate fact from fiction, and assess evidence for accuracy. 
CLICK HERE TO SIGN-UP
Jean Wilcox Hibben; PhD, MA, former So. Cal. college speech professor (MA – Speech Communication; PhD – Folklore), is a national speaker and author. A member of the DAR, she is the former director and current family history consultant for the Corona, CA FamilyHistory Center, has worked on background research for two genealogy television programs, and was a host for podcasts on social history. A former Board-Certified genealogist with over 45 years of research experience, she is a former board member of APG and past president of the Corona Genealogical Society, as well as webmaster for that same organization; and participant on a number of other society boards. Jean writes the “Aunty Jeff” column for the Informer, the newsletter of the Jefferson County NY Genealogical Society. Her website: circlemending.org.
 
UPCOMING CLASSES! Check them out!
Citing Your Sources: It’s Easier Than You Think!  September 18, 2025 11am to 12pm PDT (in person only at HQRL) LEARN MORE HERE!

Inspiring the Next Generation of Genealogists November 6, 2025 11am to 12pm PDT
LEARN MORE HERE!
 
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