DuPont Historical Museum

The building was constructed in 1910 and the Carsten’s Meat Market operated there until 1951. After the closure of the market the building was repurposed as the town’s first city hall. With the closure of the DuPont Powderworks in 1976, residents wanted a way to preserve the history the company had built in the town. City Hall moved to a new building, leaving the old one vacant. The city decided to repurpose the building again, leading to the opening of the DuPont Museum in 1977.

The building was built in 1910 by the DuPont Company to serve as the town’s meat market. It was run by the Carsten’s Meat Market based out of Tacoma and remained the meat market until 1950 when it was closed by the family. In 1951 the DuPont Company decided to sell the homes in the village to employees as maintaining a company town was no longer necessary with increased travel opportunities. The town was officially incorporated for the second time and the meat market was turned into the town’s city hall. Harry Robinson was voted the inaugural mayor for this new era of the town. Located beside the museum is Robinson Park, named after Mayor Robinson, who served as mayor until 1967.

In 1976 the DuPont Company closed its powderworks plant to pursue other ventures. After the closure, DuPont’s City Council discussed ways to ensure the history of the plant was preserved. Councilmember Lorraine Overmyer was appointed as the lead to find the best way to do this. A formal committee was formed with Overmyer as the Chairman and Ruth Iafratti as the Asst. Chairman. During this same time city hall was moved to a building on the campus of the recently shut down Laughbon High School, leaving the old city hall vacant. The committee put in a request to the city to use it as a museum which was accepted. On June 26, 1977, the DuPont Museum was opened to the public for the first time, displaying items that were donated by people in town and former employees. The next few years were spent making the building suitable for a museum, leading to an additional room being built on the back in 1982. Also, in 1982 an official non-profit was formed that signed a memorandum of understanding with the city to run the day-to-day operation of the museum while the city would oversee building repairs. 

Munyan, May. DuPont, the story of a company town. Puyallup, WA. The Valley Press, Inc., 1972.