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.
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
Donate to the Cowlitz County Historical Museum
You may use the form above to donate via Donorbox.org to the Museum.
We thank you for your support.
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