Old adobe chapel still giving to the community

By Darla Bracken

Union Congregational Church

courtesy photo


The Union Congregational Church adobe chapel was built in 1923 on the site of Friona’s first church. An historical marker now designates the site of the church built in 1907, which later was struck by lightning and burned. The church has served as a gathering place for so many community events–temporary meeting place for schools, women’s clubs, and Girl Scouts not to mention all the roles of an active church and its congregation. Now it is the home of the Parmer County Historical Museum, our fledgling effort to try to preserve the history of the pioneers and early settlers of our county.

A couple of weeks ago, one of our local teachers called to ask me if it might be possible to bring a group of students to the museum during the week. Teachers are good that way to try to expose their students to any educational opportunities they can–and aren’t we lucky they do?! Well, our high school students have worked so hard on the museum the last few years–nurturing it–so that it was a perfect time to show it off. Our basement is clean and painted because of them. They have dusted and moved furniture and oiled wood floors and cleaned windows and moved dead trees, typed brochures and set up displays–you name it they have done it. They also have given a cash award they received for one of their award-winning projects to help fund improving the electrical system at the museum. The museum has grown by leaps and bounds because of them.

As I said, it was the perfect time to show it to our second graders–about 90 of them in all and their teachers about 6 of them–almost 100 visitors. It was indeed my honor to show this group of young ones our museum. Having been born just after the mid 20th Century, I do not have personal experience with many of the items in the museum; but because of the stories my parents have shared–I know a lot about the items in there–especially the household items. One of my goals in guiding them through was to talk about how things were different then when most things ran on ‘elbow grease’ and people power. Sometimes they could figure out what an object was by looking at it and sometimes they couldn’t. Either way, it was a delight for me to watch their fascination with the objects and the stories they told. That’s what museums do–they tell a story of a people and a place in ways that mere words cannot. It was an awesome experience and one I will not soon forget. I wish all of you could have seen their faces as they experienced it. They had to be really quiet to be able to hear and they did a very nice job of that. Thanks to many of you we have a variety of historical treasures.

When I showed them Ethel Reeve’s treadle sewing machine and talked about how she had come to Friona in 1909 and that we could look out the window of the museum and see the house she used to live in. Also, because I was guiding them, we could see extra things. I pulled out one of the drawers (thinking they would probably be empty) and there were her things just as she had left them! We saw the buttons she’d cut off garments and her needle pack from 1914 and her scissors–it was just like getting to visit her at her house–awesome! I had the opportunity to see one of these students later with her mom and so I asked her mom if she had told her about visiting the museum. She said yes, that she had told her about it–and told her about it–and told her about it. Priceless...

Note: About “Shocking feed...” My dad, Cass Perkins, came to Bovina first in 1940, but he has made his home in Friona since coming here in 1950. DB

Friona women at club meeting