The Parmley House will be welcoming guests on Sunday, September 11 with a special Open House presentation of exhibits and an ice cream social.

All of the exhibits are free to the public. After touring these historical sites, join them for fellowship and free ice cream at the Parmley House. They will be serving from 3 until 5 p.m.

PARMLEY HOUSE

The Parmley House on Highway 45 in Ipswich presents a different view of time. It is a more “modern” house, built in the 1920’s with electrical lights and indoor plumbing, but while you are there notice that the walls, floors and ceilings are all constructed of concrete, for strength and durability. This is a very unique feature of the Parmley House.

A number of items once used in the home by the J.W. Parmley family are on exhibit, and many other items from the community and county are also on display. Some of the exhibits were originally assembled in the 1930’s when the first Edmunds County Museum was opened in the basement of the old courthouse.

The Parmley Land Office is located on Main Street in Ipswich and presents a collection of items representing different area businesses. The Land Office was built in 1900, using field rocks, as a place of business for Mr. Parmley’s Abstract Company. It was also the early home of the Ipswich Tribune newspaper.

Adjacent to the Parmley Land Office is the Edmunds County Memorial Park honoring the military veterans and early pioneers of the area in a brick walk way. Additional engraved bricks can be placed in the walkway for individuals, families, school classes or any other similar purpose. Applications for the engraved bricks are available at the Parmley House or Land Office. They are planning on sending in an order this fall. If you had already filled in a sheet we will be getting those bricks created. “Since it has been awhile since we have done an order we are hoping to get as many as possible done on this order. If you already ordered some you might want to verify we still have your sheet ready to be sent in,” said Tom Hammrich.

J.W. Parmley was one of the early pioneers in Edmunds County and he worked with many other local people to encourage more settlers to come to this area. His development of the Yellowstone Trail, now Highway 12, was aimed to encourage travelers with those ‘new-fangled’ cars to visit, and then to settle down and stay.

In the past few years Ipswich High School students have gotten involved in researching history and descriptions of artifacts located in the museum. “They seemed to really enjoy doing the research and reporting on their findings. This year we are planning in conjunction with the IHS students to research historical buildings in Ipswich,” said Hammrich. “Many buildings in our community have a good story to tell.” If you are interested in helping with this project or have ideas for other projects contact a member of the museum board or Angie Kulesa at IHS school.

They are always hoping to get more people involved in the great history of our small town to help pass this down to future generations before it is all lost in the past. The local museums are always looking for more volunteers to help show the exhibits and be a part of preserving these pieces of Ipswich history.