Tillamook County Pioneer Museum
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Exhibits and Events

BOOK NOw!

Current Exhibits

A Museum in the Making

April-May 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.

​Lucia Wiley-Portraits of America

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"Mrs. Adolf Spreckels" Portrait of Alma Spreckels, by Lucia Wiley, pastels, date unknown
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.

Upcoming Exhibits

Oregon Voices

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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.

Past Exhibits

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.
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Contact: How Cross-Cultural Exchange Shapes Us

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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

The Power of Place: Tillamook's Founding Industries

​April-December 2022
​

This exhibit explores how Tillamook County's unique environment gave rise to its founding industries: dairy, timber, fishing, and tourism. Moreover, it examines the relationship between people and the land, the impact of our environment on our communities through the centuries, and our impact on the natural world around us. The Power of Place highlights how interconnected our past, present, and future are to the land and water we live on, and how it has shaped who we are and who we will grow to be.​​
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1927 Hammond Mill, Garibaldi, OR

The Tillamook County Fair: A Time to Shine

July - December 2021

Come explore the history of one of Tillamook County's most beloved and renowned fixtures--the Tillamook County Fair! From its humble beginnings as a downtown "carnival" in the late 19th century, to its present lineup of horse racing, 4H contests, big-name musical acts, and of course, the Pig N' Ford races, one thing has always been at the center of it all: Community.

We invite you to learn about what has been ranked as one of the best county fairs in the United States and to get excited for fair time to roll around again.

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1954 Tillamook County Fair Pig N' Ford Races (Courtesy of Rosemary Zimmerman)

Art Accelerated

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Black-Capped Chickadee Watercolor on canvas, 2020
Feb 2-May 28, 2021
​

TCPM partnered with local, artist-based non-profit Art Accelerated to bring a temporary gallery space for local artists to exhibit and sell their works. 20% of art sales were donated to the museum. Contact Art Accelerated for future shows/information.

 Her-Story: An Oregon Perspective on the Women's Suffrage Movement 

PicturePoster of Inez Milholland Boissevain, a martyr for the cause of Suffrage
 February-November 2020

To celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, TCPM exhibited photos and narrative of the women of the National Movement as well as Oregon participants.

​Included essays by today's prominent Oregonian women - including Governor Kate Brown, Poet Laureate Emerita Paulann Petersen and Senator Betsy Johnson - as to what the vote means to them.


TCPM

2106 2nd Street
Tillamook, OR 97141
503-842-4553

Kilchis Point Reserve

Spruce Street
Bay City, OR 97107
​503-842-4553
© COPYRIGHT 2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Museum History
    • Contact
    • TCPM Newsletters
    • Opportunities
  • BOOK NOW!
  • Kilchis Point Reserve
    • History of Kilchis Point Reserve
  • Exhibits and Events
    • Festival of Trees
    • A Museum in the Making Exhibit
    • Contact: How Cross Cultural Exchange Shapes Us
  • Collections at TCPM
  • Research Library
    • Policies and Requests
    • Obituaries
  • Museum Book Shop
  • Our Partners
    • Tillamook Co. Pioneer Association
    • Tillamook Co. Historical Society
    • Tillamook Coast History Alliance
    • Tillamook Co. Cultural Coalition
  • Support Us
    • Become a Friend of TCPM
  • Web Links
  • School and Community Programs
  • Volunteer Opportunities