It’s filled with Franklin County history. And leaders want your help preserving it.

The Franklin County Historical Museum is filled with treasures.

From animal fossils discovered in White Bluffs, to Native American bead work, to one of the first letters carried via air mail from Pasco, to uniforms worn during World War II.

The museum is a repository of history, a keeper of images and artifacts of the past.

And museum leaders are in the midst of a fundraising campaign to ensure the facility — with its vital mission — continues well into the future.

“If we don’t keep (the documents, photos and artifacts), this history is lost,” said Shelly Batman, administrator. “We really have a lot of rich history to share.”

The nonprofit Franklin County Historical Society operates the museum on North Fourth Avenue in Pasco.

The society will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year.

In 1983, after two years of renovation, it moved into the current museum space. The building itself is historic — it dates to 1911, built as one of more than 2,000 libraries funded by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.

The museum sees about 2,500 visitors a year, from school groups to out-of-towners, to locals looking to learn more about their home county.

While the museum’s annual expenses are relatively low at about $110,000, they exceed the annual revenue.

As of the end of August, the museum had a roughly $46,000 deficit.

That’s not unusual in the museum world. The Reach museum in Richland, for example, has experienced tight finances in recent years.

But it’s eating into the society’s reserves. Through the Museums Always Matter 2017 campaign, the historical society is raising money to bolster the reserves.

Batman said about $6,000 already has come in, and she hopes to hit $15,000.

The museum’s income largely comes from donations, memberships and fundraisers, plus some grant money and a small, recently implemented admission fee.

The museum is Franklin County’s only general history museum. Along with the fossils, beadwork and airmail items, it’s home to troves of photos, documents and items that trace the area’s transformation from an untamed wilderness to the growing modern community it is today.

At the museum on a recent day, Batman pointed out displays on the county’s agriculture, railroad and aviation heritage. On Lewis and Clark. On Lourdes hospital.

On the county’s contributions to World War II.

One touching display includes photos and military decorations of five Franklin County brothers who served in the war. The O’Leary or O’Lary brothers — their birth certificates have variant spellings — received three Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars among them. They all returned home safe.

The museum has artifacts of some dark moments in the county’s history, including the desk of Judge James Lawless, who was killed by a pipe bomb in his Franklin County Courthouse chambers in 1974.

And is has lighter fare, such as a Pasco Headlight newspaper from the late 1880s, with an article extolling the benefits of the county.

Batman said preserving history is critically important. Our past — our history — helps shape our future, she said.

“We can learn who we are and where we came from,” she said. “History can be good and it can be bad, but we learn from those experiences.”

To donate to the museum’s fundraising campaign, go to franklincountyhistoricalsociety.org or send checks to 305 N. Fourth Ave., Pasco, WA 99301.

This story was originally published November 5, 2017 at 2:27 PM with the headline "It’s filled with Franklin County history. And leaders want your help preserving it.."