By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The Mountain History Museum has been closed this winter due to some recently discovered damage caused by the massive snowstorm in 2023 (Snowmegeddon). They had been considering replacing the vinyl photos that were on their front windows because their age was showing. Last summer the photos had turned black in several spots on the photos due to sunshine glaring on them.
Because the museum is free and runs on donations, it took a while for them to feel they had enough funds to replace the damaged photos. After their December closure, they planned to remove the old photos and replace them. The museum volunteers planned to be open during the photo replacement at least one weekend each month during the winter.
As December arrived, several volunteers began to remove the cracked vinyl from the 12 six-foot tall windows. As they removed the photos, it was going well until one volunteer yelled out, “I think this window is cracked – come look at it.” They stopped stripping the vinyl and came to look and, indeed, a thick hairline crack was seen.
They stopped working on that window and went to another one. One by one, all the windows appeared to have cracks, some bigger with most crossing the three-foot to four-foot-wide width of the windows.
They went inside the museum, removed the interior walls of one section of the museum and found smashed glass that was only being held together by the damaged vinyl. The realization came upon them that these windows needed to be replaced immediately, as they were dangerous if they were to collapse, as it appeared might occur.
It appears that, during Snowmedgeddon, when the rain gutters were pushed off the steep roof by the seven to eight feet of snow on the roof, they smashed into the glass windows that line the front of the building. Only the vinyl photos held the glass together and kept the snow from entering the museum, which would have flooded the museum and caused great damage.
The volunteers would need to remove all the displays across the interior of the museum to access the windows to allow the glass to be removed safely.
Crestline Glass workers replacing the 12 glass windows along the museum’s front. (Photos by Rhea-Frances Tetley)
The Rim of the World Historical Society’s first focus was on replacing the windows, which has now occurred thanks to Crestline Glass, which came out, gave a fair estimate and speedy replacement. Now that the windows are repaired, the museum also added interior insulation behind the windows to try to reduce some heating and cooling costs. The displays are beginning to be rebuilt, but since this is all volunteer effort, it will take some time.
The Crestline Lions stepped up and donated $600 to the cost of replacing the windows. The Rim of the World Historical Society may put out a letter to its members, asking if they would consider an additional donation.
The ROWHS was chartered in 1986 as a nonprofit; they try to provide their services at low or no cost to those who visit the museum, which has been open for 18 years. They raise much of their funding from their book and gift store sales and their donation box. They are child-friendly with several touchable exhibits.
The museum’s focus is on local mountain history from the Indian era and explorers to the growth of the communities from the logging era through the establishment of the various communities, the construction of the lakes, the roads, the resorts and the growth of the movie industry using the area for filming through current day. There is also an interest in the forest from the perspective of the U.S. Forest Service and the animals and birds in the forest and on the lakes. This season, a focus is on the construction of Green Valley Lake 100 years ago and the reasons for the lake’s construction: Rim of the World Road was rerouted to the new Big Bear dam bridge to Big Bear Lake’s south shore, instead of through Green Valley to Fawnskin on Big Bear Lake’s north shore. Many other displays were refreshened this winter as well, including the mountain highways display in the restroom.
The museum will open on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend and will be open every Friday from noon to 4 p.m. with weekend hours of 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They are open holiday Mondays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Located at 27176 Peninsula Drive at Rhine Road in Lake Arrowhead, they offer free off-street parking in their two parking lots and have a flat handicapped or wheelchair-accessible entry.
Visit their website at www.Mtnmuseum.org or call them at (909) 744-8625 for additional information.
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