The Rathdrum / Westwood Historical Society was incorporated by dedicated volunteers in 1999, and registered shortly after as a 501(c)(3) non-profit to preserve the history of Rathdrum, Idaho.
The R/WHS stepped in and purchased the Kootenai County Jail building from the city in 2006 to save it from impending demolition. Through generous donations of time and resources, the building was restored in 2010, and opened to the public as a museum in 2012.
Mission:
Our mission is to gather and catalog information and items relevant to early Rathdrum history, and share that information with the public through tours and exhibits. We share artifacts and information regarding the origins of Rathdrum as a village as early as 1861, and focus specifically on the period between 1892 and 1908, when Rathdrum was the Kootenai County seat.
As a society, we aspire to preserve the heritage of Rathdrum through public education and engagement, artifact archival, historic research, and preservation of the historic building for future generations.
Community Involvement:
- Member of the Rathdrum Chamber of Commerce since 1999.
- Sponsor of the children’s T-Ball team through Parks & Rec since 2020.
- Donate annually to the Rathdrum Police Department’s Holidays and Heroes since 2020.
- Conduct annual tours of the museum for local public and homeschool students since 2020.