Mono County Historical Society – 2001 Newsletter

Newsletter, Spring 2001

This newsletter is the first one attempted by the society since its incorporation in 1963.
We hope to make this an annual mailing.

The Mono County Historical Society was established by Lee Symmonds, the first curator of the 
Mono County Museum in Bridgeport.  Symmonds was the official Mono County Historian and a 
first rate local watercolor artist who painted many Bridgeport scenes.  Some of his best original 
works are now on display in the Bridgeport Library.  As a child, Symmonds rode his horse to a 
one room schoolhouse in Missouri and later grew up on a ranch in Colorado.  Because of this, he 
had a great appreciation for the past, a much simpler time, and was instrumental in obtaining the 
many artifacts now housed in the museum.

The Mono County Museum is the original Bridgeport Elementary School, built in 1880.  It was 
situated at the corner of Kingsley and School Streets, where the present school is located.  
Originally, there was only one large classroom, with offices on both sides of the main doors.  As 
the local population grew, the classroom was divided into two rooms, separated by a series of 
folding doors.  The front room was used for grades 6-8 and the back room was 1-5.

In 1964, the community decided it was time to build a new school.  Due to the efforts of Lee 
Symmonds and local realtor Arthur Webb, the Mono County Board of Supervisors agreed to 
donate the old schoolhouse to the Society, to be used as a museum.  During the last week of 
March 1964, the structure was moved to its present site in Bridgeport Park.  In January of 1965, 
Symmonds announced that the museum was ready to accept artifacts.  On April 20, 1965, 
enough items were in place and an official preview was held for the local residents.  The 
museum was open for business by June 1965.

Within the next couple of years, Ella Cain loaned the Society her extensive Paiute Indian basket 
collection or display.  In 1982, plans were made to build an addition onto the museum to 
specifically house the baskets and other Paiute artifacts.  By 1986, the addition was finished and 
was dedicated to the memory of Lee Symmonds.

Symmonds and Webb worked closely together for a number of years to make the venture a 
success.  When Symmonds died in 1982, Webb took over the curator duties and continued until 
his death in 1987.  Assistant Curator Joe Lent, a native Paiute, became Curator until 1999.  Each 
of these men contributed many hours to keep the museum viable.  This was made more difficult 
in 1986 when the county announced that they could no longer afford to fund the museum and 
would close it down.  The Society made an agreement to fund the payroll if the County would 
continue to maintain the building and pay for the utilities.

In the fall of 1996, the Mono County Historical Society essentially ceased to exist, and no one 
seems to know what happened.  Between 1997-98 Curator Joe Lent and his wife Mary worked to 
keep the museum open, in addition to running their own business, Eastern Sierra Trading 
Company.  Joe maintained the bank account, paid the attendant, and answered letters.  In January 
1999, a new Board of Trustees was inducted.  Joe worked with the Board until September 25, 
1999, when he resigned to become a minister.

The new Board realized that the museum needed some reorganization, but they did not want to 
change the basic up-close familiar feel of the displays, which many visitors have identified over 
the years.  In particular, photos and documents had been poorly placed and mounted.  As a result, 
they became damaged and were easily stolen.  All of the items were removed, copied, and in 
most cases, enlarged.  Many other photos and documents were found in the files and were 
copied.  New displays were made by mounting only the copies on the available blackboards and 
bulletin boards and covering them with Plexiglas.  Each photo is identified and each exhibit is a 
specific town or area.  A large fireproof safe was purchased to safely store original photos and 
documents.

Additional Indian baskets, paintings, and photos found in storage were added to the Ella Cain 
Room.  The gun display was securely fastened to the wall and weapons are identified.

The upstairs room of the building addition had been used for storage, mostly for assessors books, 
old newspapers, and other miscellaneous county record books, all of which had been saved from 
the dump in the 1980s by Curator Art Webb.  The room was found to be clean and carpeted, so it 
was decided to make it a reference room.  Cabinets were mounted to the walls.  The Bridgeport 
Chronicle Union and Mono Herald newspapers were put in order and placed on shelves by year 
and labeled.  Chronicle Union issues available: 1928-29, 1934, 1936, 1938-41, 1943, 1946-47, 
and 1949-85.  Mono Herald issues: 1977-85.  The Lakes District Review from Mammoth (1974-
85) is also available.  The assessor books are large and heavy, so they were placed in order on 
the floor against two walls, divided by decades (1866-1972) and labeled.  Other county records 
are similarly displayed.  We obtained some tables, a desk, and chairs, to allow researchers to 
easily review the materials.

The only paid employee is the attendant.  Everyone else involved volunteers their time and 
talents.  The Board of Trustees consists of the following: Kent Stoddard/President & Curator, Ed 
Oliver/Vice-President, Al Annett/Secretary, John Reid/Treasurer, and Lynda Pemberton/Member 
at large.

We are discussing ways to raise funds for operate and upgrade the museum.  In the meantime, 
obvious needed improvements have been made and more are planned.  The Society has received 
many favorable comments regarding our efforts, which gives us encouragement to continue the 
work.  We look forward to your visits and hope that you will approve of the changes.

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Transcribed by Pat Houser for Mono County GenWeb, June 2005