Cache Valley Historic Homes Tour raised funds Saturday to award a scholarship to a USU student studying local history. Doors from local, historic buildings, including the David B. Haight Alumni Center, were opened to the public to tour and to learn of their legacies. The tour was presented by the Cache Valley Historical Center and the Cache Valley Visitors Bureau.

Dan Davis, treasurer of the Cache Valley Historical Society, said, “We’ve been overwhelmed at this year’s turnout. We’ve sold out all our tickets and even ran out of tickets to sell. It’s wonderful to see.”

This year’s ticket proceeds will also fund transportation for elementary school children to visit Wellsville’s American West Heritage Center.

Jami Van Huss, last year’s scholarship winner, said, “I did my thesis on historic homes in Cache Valley, and what a rich heritage Cache Valley has. Fortunately, many owners pay attention to doing these houses justice. Although the artwork is somewhat modern, the owners work hard to preserve the old wood, the old style and feel of these houses.”

Van Huss said she is a six-generation Cache Valley resident, and was indoctrinated in these old homes from childhood.

“History has always been my passion, and the value of these homes are just phenomenal,” Van Huss said. “Even the very wood inside them would cost a small fortune to obtain.”

The Haight Alumni Center was the original Utah Territory Model Farm House and it served as a home for the first 12 university presidents. The Student Alumni Association now works and holds meetings there. It is also used for banquets, wedding receptions and other university and local activities.

Another home featured on the tour was the old log house, owned and preserved by Cary and Lucy Peterson Watkins. The house has passed through six generations of family, starting as a homesteaded home back in 1885. Originally a 160-acre piece of land, it has been worked, sold and is currently down to about 12 acres.

“The interior had been in shambles for a long while but the structure was always sound,” Cary Watkins said. “But we’ve worked on it for years, put in a great deal of manual labor, and it has been restored to it’s original condition, all except for a modern kitchen.”

The Watkins’ live-in house is next to the log house, so they’ve been able to run over and work on it whenever they could spare a few moments, Cary Watkins said.

Cary and Lucy have now made this house a home for the annual Art on the Lawn celebration every August. Lucy Watkins, a quilter herself, said they display 30 to 40 art pieces each year during the event and have over a thousand participants filter through.

The Watkins home, as well as the other six homes on Saturday’s tour, provided residents with the unique opportunity to understand their history and appreciate their ancestors.

Davis said, “In future years, we’d like to expand this tour and have a panel discussion. That way, we could effectively educate the public on the history of these buildings.”

–peter.brown@aggiemail.usu.edu