By Emily White
REXBURG—In the basement of Rexburg’s Tabernacle Civic Center sits the Museum of Rexburg. The museum, formerly known as the Teton Flood Museum, was established in 1983 and underwent a name change in 2016. The museum is a popular destination for field trips, tourists, history buffs, and curious residents with something for everyone to enjoy. The multiple rooms and exhibits provide plenty of learning opportunities for those who want to know more about the city, no matter their age or prior knowledge.
In June of 1976 the Teton dam broke, flooding into and overflowing the Teton River. The river flowed through multiple eastern Idaho towns, including Rexburg and Sugar City. In addition to the water damage, there were mass amounts of fire damage from gasoline fires that started after large debris and logs punctured a gas storage unit. 11 people lost their lives and the overall damage was catastrophic across the board. The museum was originally dedicated to that fateful day and the aftermath that followed. As time went on and more history was made, the Museum expanded to include more than just information and exhibits regarding the dam failure and flood. The name change was proposed and voted on in 2016 receiving little backlash from the community.
Enter Alisha Tetjen who started at the museum as a volunteer in 2016. After being officially hired in 2017, she worked her way up the ladder to the position of curator in 2018. Aided by Jed Platt, the cultural arts director at Rexburg’s city hall, Tietjen and the Museum of Rexburg staff have had great successes. Currently, the Museum of Rexburg is wrapping up its most successful season to date. When COVID-19 hit it in 2020, it was a matter of sink or swim for businesses worldwide. Even after shutting down their in-person viewing, the Museum of Rexburg did more than just swim. They broke records and doubled their average year retail sales in one season.
“We really had to embrace social media during the shutdown,” Tietjen says. “It was one of the easiest ways to reach people and get the word out that we were still here.”
They used their social media platforms to keep the community involved by implementing weekly activities such as Tell Us Tuesday and Fun Fact Friday. With the city shut down and many COVID-19 regulations in place, it was virtually impossible to bring people in. However, that didn’t stop them from bringing education to the schools. The museum started putting together escape room kits for school classes. Full of clues, riddles, mathematics, and history, the escape-the-room kits encouraged problem solving and critical thinking skills while still being a fun outlet for the kids to learn from.
For the 45th anniversary of the flood, the Museum of Rexburg unveiled a new in-person mini escape room. Playing the part of Ray Short, who helped evacuate the surrounding areas that day, participants have 25 minutes to solve riddles, complete tests, evacuate the city and get out before the flood gets to the office.
The combined efforts of the new escape room, the tourism boom post COVID-19 shutdown, and increased social media presence, led to record breaking numbers for Tietjen and her team this season.
Museum staff members plan to have the current escape room open until at least October 30, but it could stay open longer if the demand stays strong. Check the museum’s Facebook and Instagram pages for the most up-to-date information.
In summer of 2022, the museum will unveil a new escape room set in the early 1880s. Participants will play as members of one of two rival horse thief gangs. More information will be available as the project gets closer to being completed.
Tietjen expressed excitement for the museum’s upcoming events, like the quilt show and harvest festival scavenger hunt.
This upcoming quilt show on March 12th, 2022, will be the museum’s second and aims to highlight the history, creativity, and natural sense of community of quilts throughout different periods of time. Quilt circles date as far back as the late 1790s and early 1800s, and have been an outlet for people of all ages and generations to come together and create, providing warmth and comfort and preserving history. Quilting is still popular and the quilt show is a great way of bringing history and modernity together in one event.
Visit The Museum of Rexburg on Facebook at facebook.com/museumofrexburg/ or on Instagram @themuseumofrexburg.
