~ The one room cedar pioneer cabin was built in the 1860s, possibly the oldest structure in Sumner.

~ The house was an early location for a small Post Office, Lucy Ryan was Postmaster.

~ The first Platt of Sumner was drawn on the Ryan House dining table. The city was incorporated in 1891. You can see the Platt in the cabin area of the museum.

~ George participated in the naming of Sumner in the late 1880s.

~ George Ryan was the first mayor of Sumner.

~ A butternut tree, from Wisconsin was planted in front of the house by Lucy.  Later, when Main Street was widened, the street was built around it. It was taken down in 1963. See below for pictures and story on our website.

~ Much of the lumber in the Victorian  farmhouse came from George Ryan’s sawmill. The Sumner Lumber Co.

     See below for pictures, story and a layout  on our website.

~ One of the first stores in Sumner was  attached to the Ryan hophouse, which later became the home’s kitchen..

~ George help establish the Sumner Light and Water Company. His mill made water pipes out of logs for the water system. Examples have survived and can be seen at the museum.

~ There was no alcohol in the house. Lucy was a charter member of the WTCU. It’s likely that some temperance meetings were at the Ryan House. The base of a water fountain donated to the house by the WTCU can be seen at the museum.

~ Sumner's first Justice of the Peace, John Avery, helc cort at the Ryan House.

~ The first telephone in Sumner ran from Ryan’s Mill to the house.

~ George built Sumner’s Railway Depot as an incentive to have the trains stop at the town. 


~ The Ryan farm grew hops, berries, cherries, and raised poultry. In 1876 George bought holly trees, snowballs, and cherry trees from Oympia. One holly tree became Sumner's Tree of light, decorated every season since 1926.

~ The Ryan House property had the first root celler and ice house in Sumner.

~ George Ryan built many of the earlier homes in downtown Sumner.

~ George Ryan built the first brick building on Main Street and helped develop a large section of the downtown business district.

See below for pictures, story and a layout  on our website.

1860 to 1926

1926 to 1978

Current

~ The house was the City Library  See below for pictures and story on the library page.

~ From 1978 to present, Home to the Sumner Historical Society.