User:Shortiefourten/Lewis County Historical Society and Museum

The Lewis County Historical Society and Museum, also known as the Burlington Northern Depot, is located in Chehalis, Washington.

McKinley Stump
Located at the Lewis County Historical Museum is the McKinley Stump, a replica of a 6 foot tall remnant of a Douglas fir cut down in 1901 near Pe Ell. Dated between 360 and 700 years old, it was meant to be used as a speech pedestal for President William McKinley, but the event was cancelled. Theodore Roosevelt used it two years later and William H. Taft employed the stump as a podium in 1907. The artifact was originally placed in downtown under a pagoda, but was moved to the railroad depot and then to Recreation Park after damages due to arson in the late 1940s. After an infestation of carpenter ants and subsequent rot, the stump was removed from the park in 2007 and a replica stump, cut from Tenino, was installed at the museum in 2008 with a restored pagoda and a display of an undamaged slab of the original stump.

Features
The museum hosts several distinct rooms and areas pertaining to the history of railroads, timber, Native Americans, and early pioneer life in Chehalis. The building also includes a research library and a model train display.