cowlitz county historical museum

A pair of students, a parent, and I stopped at this museum on our way to Mount St. Helens. We arrived without advance notice although we had called and spoken to staff members regarding their documents pertaining to the 1980 eruption. I was prepared to pay an entrance fee and was pleasantly surprised to find they just had a donation box with a modest, suggested fee based on age. We were offered their stacks of newspapers and scrapbooks to peruse and a place to spread them out that was really generous of them given that we hadn't made prior arrangements. We headed on our way knowing what they had that could help our research and definitely will return with the means to scan documents.

As a homeschooling family, we are always looking for ways to bring fun and fascination to our kids' education. This is a beautiful, if small, museum, great for a rainy day! Who can say, "No!" to free admission? Nice permanent displays, a variety of rotating displays, and a very nice gift shop!

My wife and I followed a friend's recommendation and toured this Museum of mainly photos from the 1920-1935 era of this area. Considering the largest town in the county did not exist until 1923 there is not a lot of what could be called history. Nevertheless there are many interesting photos of the early logging days as this county developed both in population and economy. There is no charge for admission, but a recommended donation amount depending on number of visitors is displayed. There just seems to be a need for better organization of the photos and some real thought given to making the most of what they have. One gets the impression that the museum's curator is upstairs busily working on their Ph.D while most of the museum is left to the docents.