The Nelson House Exhibit
The following information is provided by the Poway Historical Society. We hope this makes your tour through our house more enjoyable. Our docent will answer any other questions you might have regarding this house, the Historical Society, the Museum and the Heritage Park.
The
kitchen features a Majestic wood-burning stove the pride of every early
Poway homemaker. The stove was used for heating the house as well as for
cooking. Standing next to the stove is a washtub and washboard.
The tub
was used for the family laundry plus the weekly Saturday night baths. An
old claw-footed bathtub adorns the bathroom which was added to the house
in the 1930s. A glass butter churn, used for churning cream into butter,
is on the kitchen counter. Since there were no stores close by,
everything had to be made at home.
A kerosene lamp on the dining room table was the usual means of lighting. Children read by the light of the lamp, while mother did the mending and darning.
Poway
pioneers needed some form of entertainment in the midst of all the
back-breaking farm work, and the Victrola (music box) provided this.
When the house was first built, it had none of the modern conveniences of electricity, water or plumbing. These were added at a later time.
The Nelson House is an excellent example of life in a farming community at the turn of the 20th century.
Photos by M. Whitten