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On Tuesday, November 01, 1927, the Portia Club clubhouse, located at 225 North 9th Street in Payette, Idaho
was first opened to the public. The building was the dream of a group of far-sighted women dedicated to the welfare and cultural
well being of their community. They may have started their club over a small tea party in 1895,
but during the next twenty years they started the Payette City Library, funded Children's Free Health
Clinics, organized the Payette Apple Blossom Festival, sponsored lectures on laws that affected women and children, held debates on women's issues and
spread the virtues of art and literature throughout the city of Payette, Idaho. Their dream to
build their own clubhouse started in 1919 with $60 in proceeds from a dance the ladies had sponsored.
Over the next eight years the women of the Portia Club slowly added to their clubhouse fund until they
had earned the $4,366 cost of the building. They chose a well known architect from Fruitland, I. C. Whiteley
to design their new clubhouse and decided on a Spanish style that they hoped would add to the beauty of
their city. The women of the Portia Club slowly faded away and their accomplishments were nearly forgotten,
but seventy-seven years later we are trying to save this once active clubhouse. Over time the building has
been sorely neglected and without extensive restoration will be lost forever. It is our goal, with your help,
to restore this lovely building and turn it into a community center for non-profit clubs, performing arts, after school and other community based programs.
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A Brief History of Portia Club Written by Mrs. D. C. Chase
A Brief History of Portia Club Written by Mrs. Edna Stephenson (about 1965)
Portia Club Song
Original Portia Club 1921 Articles of Incorporation State of Idaho
Portia Club to Build Payette Independent, December 17, 1925
Portia Club to Build Home Payette Independent, May 12, 1927
Laying the Corner Stone Files of the Independent Enterprise August 4, 1927
Dedication Ceremony November 03, 1927 (Long Article)
Payette Portia Club Dedication Ceremony Idaho Club Woman, December 1927 (Short Article)
How We Furnished The New Club House By Mrs. P. H. Brown, Portia Club, Payette
Original Contract for Portia Club Clubhouse July 22, 1927
The Portia Club Of Payette: Then and Now By Cleo Dolphus Thompson
Portia Club Officers from 1895 to 1972 By Cleo Dolphus Thompson
Portia Club National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Portia Club History By KSD Consultling LLC
Portia Club National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Portia Club Clubhouse Structure By KSD Consultling LLC
The Story of the Apple Blossom Festival 11th Annual Apple Blossom Festival Program, May 8th, 1933
Midland Monthly Magazine, Volume 6, 1896
History of Idaho, Volume 1, by Hiram French, 1914
Newspaper Articles about the Portia Club
Portia Club, Women's Club Member
Women of the Portia Club
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