Current Exhibits

Oregon Voices

September 3 - November 25, 2025

The Oregon Voices traveling exhibit examines some of the important people, industries, organizations, and laws that have shaped the state from the end of World War II through 2020. The exhibit have five, three-sided kiosks covering a the following topics in Oregon's history: Industry and Economy, Equal Rights and Social Justice, Migration and Immigration, Environment and Energy, and the Indigenous Tribes of Oregon.

Searchlight:​ Working Animals at War and Home

Loyal Service is the first installation of “The Searchlight,” a rotating exhibition series dedicated to showcasing the stories of military personnel, operations, and conflicts that have shaped our local community. 
The new exhibit showcases the stories of local veterans who worked with animals during active combat and after returning home. From Civil War cavalrymen and Vietnam War Point Men, to the Oregon National Guard practicing skirmish lines on horseback at Camp West Tillamook, to a World War I veteran advocating for guide dog training programs.

The exhibit was installed June 2025.

​Lucia Wiley-Portraits of America
Currently on display at Tillamook City Hall
210 Laurel Ave, Tillamook, OR 97141​

Born and raised in Tillamook, Oregon, Lucia Wiley has become synonymous with the  Works Project Administration's beautification efforts during the Great Depression. Though she is revered as a muralist, Wiley's works are variable in style and medium. Two of her murals are located here in Tillamook at the county courthouse and city hall and many of her smaller pieces were donated to the Tillamook County Pioneer museum by her descendants.
Visit the Tillamook City Hall to explore the heart of early-mid 20th-century America, both real and imagined, portrayed in Wiley's art and learn about a master artist who called this place home.
Picture
"Mrs. Adolf Spreckels" Portrait of Alma Spreckels, by Lucia Wiley, pastels, date unknown

Upcoming Exhibits

Festival of Trees
More info coming soon...!

Past Exhibits

A Museum in the Making
April-August 2025

Join the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum in celebrating our 90th Anniversary by deepening your understanding of local history beginning with the history of the Museum itself. Learn how TCPM has developed into an essential community asset with more than 55,000 artifacts and 20,000 photographs, documents, and archival material pieces. Explore the deep commitment Tillamook County citizens have fore preserving their histories and cultures when the Museum opened on April 27, 1935. Museum history found during the recent building maintenance project will be on display for visitors to learn more about our 90 years of operation. So, what stories would you like to see at TCPM in the future?

To see some of the first artifacts to be donated to the Museum, head to the virtual A Museum in the Making Exhibit from Spring 2023.
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The second Tillamook County courthouse after being recently constructed in 1905.

Letitia Carson: An Enduring Spirit of Hope and Freedom

February 1 - March 29, 2025

Letitia Carson was a Black Oregon homesteader, farmer, and matriarch living in the time of Oregon’s exclusion laws. This exhibit tells the story of Letitia’s transition from enslaved woman to landowner, and how her persistence and grit carved pathways for Black and Indigenous Oregonians today. Researched and curated by Oregon's only historical society dedicated to preserving and presenting the experiences of African Americans statewide for more than 30 years. To learn more, visit the Oregon Black Pioneers website by clicking here.

Contact: How Cross-Cultural Exchange Shapes Us

February-November 2023

The second installment of The Placemaking Series, Contact: How Cross-Cultural Exchange Shapes Us, seeks to explore the widely accepted story of First Contact between Europeans and the Indigenous Tillamook people. First Contact is defined as when two or more cultures, who have never interacted, meet for the first time. Social scientists then expect to see changes in physical items and social customs as a result of that interaction. However, records shows us foreign influence through Material Culture reached the North Oregon Coast decades before any European power permanently settled in the Oregon Country.

This poses the question: What influence do objects have on humans and societies? And does that change how we think about the stories of history we accept and teach each other?
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Contact: How Cross Cultural Exchange Shapes Us Virtual Exhibit