The popular Living History Day series at the Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum will resume on Saturday, January 23. On the fourth Saturday of each month local historians come to the main house to visit with guests and answer questions regarding different aspects of Lake County history. As these visits are recorded, the stories of Lake County’s history are being preserved for future generations. The series was suspended during November and December due to holiday happenings.
Gene Paleno, author and illustrator living in Witter Springs, will be available to museum visitors that day from noon till 2 p.m. Paleno’s focus will be the Civil War years between 1860 and 1870 when Lake County was trying to resolve conflicts over designation of its county seat. Paleno’s soon to be published History of Lake County includes a chapter on the subject, “Voting with a Pistol”, based on diaries kept by Lucas Willey which are a part of the collection Lucas Willey papers, [ca. 1849-1873]. It seems guns were used to decide elections in those days.
The Lake County Historical Society’s Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum is located at 9921 State Hwy 281 (Soda Bay Road) in Kelseyville, near Clearlake Riviera, just north of Hwy 29-Kit’s Corner. Current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday. Living History events are held on the fourth Saturday of each month from noon until 2 p.m. Fiddlers’ Jams occur the first Sunday of every month, again, from noon until 2 p.m.
Visit www.elystagestop.org or www.lakecountyhistory.org, check out the stage stop on Facebook at www.facebook.com/elystagestop, or call the museum at 707-533-9990.
Gene Paleno, author and illustrator, on his property in Witter Springs. Photo contributed by Christina Ericksen.