| Interest in forming a museum in north Lincoln County came about in
the mid 1980s through a group of friends interested in antiques and local
history. Early in 1987, they formally incorporated as a public non-profit
organization, The Friends of North Lincoln County Museum, Inc. (now the
North Lincoln County Historical Museum). Soon after a search began for
a permanent site to house the growing collection of artifacts and documents.
In 1987 the museum opened at 5021 SW Highway 101, in the Taft area.
A year later the museum moved to the old Groth-Gates metal shop at 11512
SE Highway 101 in the Delake area. Soon even this large building was
not large enough to house the growing collection of objects donated
by local citizens.
The museum acquired its current building in the Taft area at 4907
SW Highway 101 in 1994. This building, in addition to offering the museum
its largest and most secure site yet, is an historical site itself.
Originally the Taft/Nelscott/Delake Fire Station, it was built in 1941
on land donated by Fred Robison with donated materials and volunteer
labor. Later it became Lincoln City’s City Hall building. When
City Hall was moved to larger quarters, the city donated the building
to the museum.
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By 2003, the museum needed more space, and began construction
on a major addition to this building. Completed in 2005, the new museum
now offers a beautiful new space for its exhibits including new and larger
displays and an improved research library.
The museum continues to be a popular stop for tourists and residents
alike. The North Lincoln County Pioneer and Historical Association’s
three volumes of Pioneer History of North Lincoln County, Oregon, available
in the museum store, continue to sell well. Downstairs exhibits give
visitors and residents a good picture of what life was like as a pioneer
and homesteader in North Lincoln County from the early 1800s to the
mid 1920s. Our upstairs exhibit gallery picks up the timeline in the
1920s and continues through 1965 when the townships incorporated as
Lincoln City.
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