FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Carol Zahorsky
PR for Visit Long Beach Peninsula
360.481.1752
carol@zahorskypr.com
Museum Month Showcases History, Collections, and Culture in Small Towns on the Long Beach Peninsula and Greater Pacific County
Museumgoers enjoy discounted admissions, a scavenger hunt, gift shop discounts, and more throughout the month of May
LONG BEACH PENINSULA, Wash. – February 28, 2023 – The first annual Pacific County Museum Month will take place in several small towns in the southwest corner of Washington in May 2023. Eleven fascinating museums and interpretive centers, spread out over 70-some miles along the Long Beach Peninsula and greater Pacific County, are participating.
“It’s remarkable to find so many and such a variety of intriguing, little museums in a remote destination,” said Katja Spitz, executive director, Visit Long Beach Peninsula. “In contrast to our fast-moving, future-focused society, these museums are a testament to the significance of the history, traditions, and rural way of life on this vibrant span of the northwest coast.”
During Museum Month, museumgoers will be offered discounts on admission, memberships, and gift shop purchases. One museum has set up a scavenger hunt. Others are presenting special exhibits.
Museum visitors to Pacific County can immerse in Chinook and Shoalwater Bay tribal history and the culture, trade and maritime history of the Columbia-Pacific region, the harrowing finale to Lewis and Clark’s voyage west, kites from throughout the world, the cultivation and harvest of cranberries and oysters, a quarantine station for the coastal northwest, and local heritage, as well as historic archives.
Participants are as follows:
- Appelo Archives Center, Museum and Café, Naselle
- Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum (CPHM), Ilwaco
- Cranberry Museum and Gift Shop, Long Beach
- Knappton Cove Heritage Museum, Naselle
- Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, Ilwaco
- NamsChohts Heritage Museum & Library, Tokeland
- Northwest Carriage Museum, Raymond
- Pacific County Historical Society and Museum, South Bend
- Willapa Bay Interpretive Center, Port of Peninsula, Nahcotta
- Willapa Seaport Museum, Raymond
- World Kite Museum, Long Beach
For more information, go to www.visitlongbeachpeninsula.com/museum-month-2023.
For attractions, lodging, dining, and other destination information, please go to VisitLongBeachPeninsula.com.
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Pacific County Museum Month 2023
Participants: Descriptions and Details
Appelo Archives Center
The Appelo Archives Museum & Cafe is dedicated to preserving and protecting the history of the Naselle-Grays River Valley area of southwest Washington. The Center encourages the study of region-wide history by preserving collections, sponsoring community and educational activities, facilitating genealogical research, and fostering Scandinavian studies, with an emphasis on Finnish-American heritage.
During Museum Month, find the SISU sign at Appelo Archives and win a prize. Appelo is also offering 10% off non-consignment bookshop purchases and 15% off new memberships, as well as a free slice of Pulla (Finnish cardamom bread), and a one-dollar book and vinyl record sale. The Museum is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 10 AM to 4 PM (with the café closing at 3 PM) and on Saturday by appointment. Admission is free.
Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum
Located near the confluence of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean in Ilwaco, Washington, the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum (CPHM) captures the history and culture of this dynamic region. Starting with Chinookan culture and moving through time, visitors explore the past and present lifeways of the region’s communities.
During Museum Month, CPHM will offer 20% off all new memberships purchased in May and 10% off all non-consignment items in the bookshop. That same month, the museum will open a special exhibit – Portraits in RED: The Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Painting Project by artist Nayana LaFond – on May 19. Open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM, admission is free.
Cranberry Museum and Gift Shop
The Cranberry Museum showcases the tools and machinery from the last century used to cultivate the vines, bring in the harvest, and sort and clean the “red gold” berries. The adjacent cranberry bogs, with early blooms possible in late May, feature a self-guided walking tour. The Gift Shop features all thing cranberry including homemade cranberry ice cream and bags of dry-harvested cranberries in the fall.
The Cranberry Museum is open on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday from 10 AM to 4 PM; admission is free. Premium preserves and local cranberry books will be discounted by 20% during Museum Month.
Knappton Cove Heritage Museum
A carefully preserved Quarantine Hospital, the Knappton Cove Heritage Museum is full of fascinating artifacts from its layers of history. It was once home to the U.S. Columbia River Quarantine Station – the Columbia River’s ‘Ellis Island’– and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Current exhibits include ‘Fishin’ in the 50’s’ and ‘Cannery Days.’
During Museum Month, the Knappton Cove Heritage Museum will host an open house “I Smell a Rat,” on May 20, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. At the open house, the museum will unveil a new exhibit created in partnership with the CCC MERTS program. Students have constructed a rat guard, used to prevent rats, notorious for spreading disease, from getting aboard ships, using US PHS historic diagrams.
Regular hours in 2023 for the Knappton Cove Heritage Museum are Saturday afternoons in July and August from 1 PM to 4 PM or by appointment.
Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center
The Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center (LCIC) at Cape Disappointment State Park is perched on a high cliff overlooking the infamous Columbia River Bar. It has exhibits covering the entire Lewis and Clark trail including a 20-minute movie, artifacts from the expedition, and contributions by the Chinook Tribe. It also has maritime exhibits, a gift shop, and a rotating temporary exhibit hall.
For Museum Month, LCIC will offer 10% off a single item (excluding books) purchased at the gift store. The Center is open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM. Admission is $5 for an adult and $2.50 for a child. A Discover Pass is required for all vehicles entering the park.
NamsChohts Heritage Museum & Library
Located on the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation in Tokeland, the Shoalwater Tribe’s NamsChohts Heritage Museum & Library features local tribal history and an in-house library, affiliated with the Timberland Regional Library. Exhibits include natural history displays, tribal art and artifacts, and more.
During Museum Month, NamsChohts Heritage Museum & Library is offering 15% off clothing purchases in the Museum Gift Shop. The museum is open to the public from 9 AM to 5 PM, Tuesday through Saturday, and is closed from noon to 1 PM for lunch. Admission is free.
Northwest Carriage Museum
The Northwest Carriage Museum has been keeping history alive in Raymond for more than 20 years. What started as a private collection has grown into a world-class collection of over 60 restored and conserved 19th-century horse-drawn vehicles and thousands of period artifacts, as well as interactive exhibits, which are fun for all ages.
For Museum Month, the Northwest Carriage Museum will offer 20% off regular adult admission and 10% off gift shop purchases. Open daily from 10 AM to 4 PM, standard admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $5 per child, and $25 for a family.
Pacific County Historical Society and Museum
Located in downtown South Bend and a caretaker of Pacific County history since the early 1960s, the Pacific County Historical Society and Museum collects and houses a variety of displays showcasing Willapa Bay history. Highlights of the museum include its Pacific Northwest-specific bookstore and a gift shop stocked by local artists. The archives provide a valuable resource for researchers and visitors, alike.
During Museum Month, the Pacific County Historical Society will offer 20% off new memberships. Open daily from 11 AM to 4 PM, admission is free.
Willapa Bay Interpretive Center
Looking out over tidal mudflats and the ideal conditions for cultivating oysters, the Willapa Bay Interpretive Center is housed inside a replica of an oyster station house on the banks of Willapa Bay. Displays trace the families who established the oyster industry, artifacts, and a 20-foot mural of the bay.
As a participant in Pacific County Museum Month, the Center will be open from 11 AM to 4 PM on weekends for the month of May and will offer a 15% discount on merchandise. Regular hours of admission are 11 AM to 4 PM, on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and holidays from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Admission is free, and donations are welcome.
Willapa Seaport Museum
The Willapa Seaport Museum showcases the nautical history of Willapa Bay and the seafaring way of life for all the enjoy. This educational outreach museum is full of historical nautical displays in a 5,000-square-foot building located on the South Fork of the Willapa River and adjacent to the Northwest Carriage Museum in Raymond.
For Museum Month, the curator has put together a Nautical Scavenger Hunt with prizes for all entrants. Open to all ages, players are invited to find 12 of the 13 items on the list and receive a nautical prize or find fewer and receive a consolation prize. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 4 PM and offers free admission.
World Kite Museum
This colorful and intriguing museum, footsteps away from an expansive public beach, is home to more than 1,500 kites from 26 countries. The 200 Japanese kites in the collection are considered the most complete collection of kites outside of Japan. Within the collection are fighter, miniature, leaf, dime-store kites, and more. The war-kite exhibit informs the significance of kites in signaling, gun training, weather monitoring, and more. Open year-round, the museum hosts the annual Washington State International Kite Festival in August, which draws expert kite fliers and tens of thousands of spectators.
Throughout May, the Kite Museum is offering a buy one and get 50% off a second admission, as well as a 10% discount on select items in its gift shop. Regular admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, and $4 for children and includes the materials and instructions to make a small, flyable kite to take home. Hours in May are Friday through Monday, from 11 AM to 4 PM.
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