Three area museums receive grants

Three museums in Northwest Montana will receive grants from the Montana History Foundation, including a $1,750 award to the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell for continuing trim and architrave restoration work. The Hockaday operates in the historic Carnegie Library building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Ninepipes Museum of Early Montana in the Charlo area will get $5,000 for its preservation of the 1860 Jocko Valley log cabin. It was relocated to the museum grounds in 1997. The cabin’s end walls have holes that need to be sealed and there are cracks in the chinking that need to be repaired. This building is significant in its representation of cultures and lives of early Montana settlers and Native Americans subjected to reservation life.

The Heritage Museum in Libby will get $5,000 for outdoor signs and interpretive displays.

Montana History Foundation awarded $117,000 statewide to 28 projects and organizations that preserve the state’s history.

The foundation has awarded annual grants since 2012. This year’s distribution is the largest to date.

Private sources support the awards through gifts, grants and other contributions. As statewide knowledge of the program increases, the foundation hopes to spread even more wealth to preservation projects next year.

The Montana History Foundation started in 1985. It’s an independent, nonprofit corporation preserving the rich legacy of Montana’s past. The foundation has put nearly $3 million into history projects in Montana communities.

For more information, visit https://www.mthistory.org.