Our small beloved town is home to an incredible Cougar past, yet many students and local residents know nothing about the area and its grand history.

Pullman should provide its residents with activities that make our storied past more accessible to students and the community.

In Moscow, our nearby neighbors have done just that for their residents. Moscow began hosting cemetery tours so people could learn about how the town’s historical inhabitants made a difference in their community.

Mary Reed, former Latah County Historical Society director, came up with the idea and uses the information gathered by the county’s historical society to lead the tours. On Sunday, Sept. 22, Reed gave her most recent tour to 45 curious area residents.

“The tour also inspires some folks to ask additional questions about local history, and that pursuit usually brings them to our research library,” said Dulce L. Kersting, museum curator of the Latah County Historical Society.

This idea of community bonding through the sharing and cherishing of local history should be brought over to Pullman; it would be another way to bring our town together.

Whitman County Historical Society does have attractions for tourists, such as the founder of Colfax’s house, the James Perkins House, but there are not many attractions or activities in Pullman other than the Whitman County Historical Society archive.

It is important for students to know our school’s past, but it is just as important for students and local residents to know what Pullman and the surrounding area have to offer history-wise.

An interesting fact most students may not know about Pullman – there is a local cemetery near campus. Known as Farr Cemetery, it was named after one of Pullman’s founders, Balin Farr.

If the town sponsored tours of Farr Cemetery, residents and students would have a convenient and educational activity that would be both fun and cultural.

The tours could focus on the various rumors and legends that surround Farr Cemetery. At one point all of the headstones were removed due to massive vandalism and stored in the basement of city hall, but since there was no proper map for the markers original locations when they were replaced, it’s believed that they weren’t correctly matched back up to their namesake’s bodies.

Such tours would give residents the chance to learn interesting facts, including Pullman’s pre-WSU population. In 1890, before the university was built, the town had a population of only 200 people.

There is a vast amount of interesting information about Pullman that can be passed on to students and local residents. With activities like cemetery tours, those who care about this town’s past would have a fun way to learn, and for those who are otherwise unaware, it might spark their interest.

-Marissa Mararac is a junior communication major from Tacoma. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this Column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.