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FERNDALE HERITAGE SOCIETY

Preserving the past for the future at Pioneer Park

The business and purpose of the Ferndale Heritage Society is to educate the community on the history of Whatcom County, promote Pioneer Park and tourism in Ferndale, WA, and bring together those people interested in preserving history and maintaining the log cabins and collections at Pioneer Park.

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The Granary

Granary300pxThe Granary was built by John Gischer in 1887 on Marine Drive in Birch Bay. Gischer was one of the earliest settlers of the Birch Bay area. It was moved to Pioneer Park in the 1970s. The building was originally intended to be a house but ended up as a granary and now holds many of the tools that Mr. Gischer used on his homestead.

One of the earliest dragsaws manufactured in Bellingham is displayed in the Granary. These types of saws were designed to be drug from tree to tree by the sheer will of the operator. The large red dragsaw on the west wall had a sign on the underside, whereon the company that manufactured it in 1846 boasted that this was the ultimate invention for sawing wood and couldn’t be matched.

An early grain fanning mill constructed of crabapple wood by Mr. Gischer in 1872 or 1873 and more modern grain fanning mill run by stationary engine or tractor are located in the back of the building.

View the Granary Gallery