Cowlitz County Historical Society

Welcome to the Cowlitz County Historical Museum

The museum collects, preserves, and interprets information and artifacts that tell the story of Cowlitz County. The Cowlitz County Historical Museum operates as a partnership between Cowlitz County and the Cowlitz County Historical Society. Formed in 1949, the Society began operating a museum in a space provided by Cowlitz County in 1953. In 1979, the museum relocated to its current location on Allen Street. Museum staff are a combination of Historical Society and County employees. This public-private partnership has benefited our community by making the Cowlitz County Historical Museum an attraction providing quality exhibits, archival research facilities, and engaging educational and public programming.

Members take pride in the knowledge that they are the key to the museum’s
ongoing mission of collecting, preserving and interpreting our history.

Become a Member Today!

Membership includes:

· Subscription to the Cowlitz Historical Quarterly

· Receive the Society’s Newsletters

· 10% discount on all items in our Museum Store

· Invitation to the annual membership meeting with dinner provided

· 20% discount on custom printed photos from our collection

A Note from the Director

Welcome to the Cowlitz County Historical Museum! Cowlitz County is a great place to live, with easy access to the ocean, Mount St. Helens, and Portland. Nestled amidst forests and rivers with a mix of rural and urban settings, Cowlitz County provides the best of all worlds. Our county has a rich history tied to the land and its natural resources. From being the “Smelt Capital of the World” to some of the richest groves of old growth Douglas Fir, natural resources play a significant role in our past and present. Our permanent exhibition, “Cowlitz Encounters,” is regionally and nationally awarded and shares the history of our county, from its first inhabitants, the Cowlitz People, to American settlement, and the growth of the timber industry, both resource extraction and timber products processing. We have over 35,000 objects in our collections and nearly one million images in our archives. These resources are available for research, academic study, and exhibition. I invite you to visit the Cowlitz County Historical Museum where we keep history alive!

~ Joseph Govednik, Museum Director

Download our Mount St. Helens Audio Tour.

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Looking north on Pacific Avenue in Kelso, circa 1938. Courtesy Cowlitz County Historical Museum / #2001.0027.0030
The first donkey engine of S. J. Beck, circa 1895. Included in the photograph are Ben Robinson and Fred Taylor. Courtesy Cowlitz County Historical Museum / #1998.0004.0001.0015
Men building a cradle for a cigar raft in Stella, circa 1898. Courtesy Cowlitz County Historical Museum / #1978.0011.0001

Cowlitz County Art
Past and Present

A local artist’s paintings of our area, a Victorian floral wreath made of human hair, wool, sewing samplers from early area pioneers, an animal figure carved of pumice, and the Columbian Artists Association’s varied art on the theme of area timber: All of these can now be found on display at the museum. Nick Ciancibelli was born in Longview. He now lives in Kalama where he practices his love of art which began as a 2 year old inspired by a cartoonist on TV. His subjects shifted from fantasy to realism while enrolled at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. His artistry background blends formal and self-taught experiences with his work having been displayed at numerous galleries since 1994. The Museum has paired a selection of Ciancibelli’s works with a sample of historical art pieces from the collection. We are also happy to be hosting the latest art from the Columbia Artists Association who hold an annual “art challenge” for its members. A subject is chosen and everyone creates a piece of art on that theme. This year the theme was area timber, and several of the artists used photos from the museum’s collection as inspiration. We hope to see you here to experience all this wonderful art, past and present, now through December 2022!