POULSBO — Curator Erica Varga can’t help but feel that she knows former Little Norway Mayor Selmer Myreboe even though he served the city in the 1930s.

“We’ve got scrapbooks from his family and things from when he served in World War I,” explained Varga, who is the former director of the Bainbridge Island Historical Society and Museum. “We’ve also got sound bites of him as well.”

Myreboe is just one of the local historic figures who lives on through the documents and oral histories collected by the Poulsbo Historical Society over the years.

“I feel this collection has been underestimated as a research collection,” she said. “We have a larger collection than I thought we did.”

Much of the credit for the existing collection belongs to Roseann Mitchell, who kept methodical records on what has been given to the society over the years, Varga explained.

“There are at least 1,000 photos in the collection that are somewhat unique and rare in that they pertain to North Kitsap and Poulsbo, including the Wayne Estes collection,” she said.

Those photos are not only being inventoried, but are also being scanned into a computer and placed in acid-free sleeves to prevent further deterioration.

“We also have an extensive oral history collection that we need to have transcribed,” she remarked, noting that from her experience, most people will read transcripts before listening to tapes.

The society has also accumulated an abundance of maps, plat books and other documents dating back to the early 1900s.

“We have Poulsbo planning and plat maps from 1909 and we also have a bunch of receipts circa 1930 from the Poulsbo lumber company,” Varga said.

Maritime artifacts are featured prominently in the collection and include ships’ log books, compasses and even an old porthole.

“We’ve got a great collection of photos of the Mosquito Fleet and the Hyak as well as some tribal photos,” Varga said.

Now that she has a better idea as to what the society has, she said the next challenge is to make it more accessible to the public.

“My next step is going to be getting into the computer with all of the images and getting maps, documents and research materials organized in this office,” Varga said.

Once that is done, she added, the community will benefit from increased access to the collection as the society works toward finding a permanent home.

“We don’t have to wait to have a new facility and the society deserves credit for how much it has achieved in such a short period of time,” she said.