Clackamas County Historical Society

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Clackamas County Historical Society

Clackamas County Historical Society (CCHS), in Oregon City, Oregon, is a nonprofit regional educational institution. Visit us at: www.clackamashistory.org

Since 1952, CCHS has served as the steward of Oregon's early history. Museum of the Oregon Territory, 211 Tumwater Drive, Oregon City OR 97045

Stevens Crawford Heritage House, 603 6th Street, Oregon City OR 97045

Clackamas County Family History Society Library at Museum
Research Library open Wednesdays and 1st and 3rd Saturday. BY APPOINTMENT ONLY.

05/09/2026

We are excited to announce that the Museum of the Oregon Territory will be participating in the Blue Star Museums program this summer! In honor of our nation’s service members, the museum will offer free admission to active-duty military personnel and their families, including members of the National Guard and Reserve.

Blue Star Museums is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families in collaboration with the Department of Defense and participating museums across America. The 2026 program begins on Armed Forces Day, May 16, and ends on Labor Day, September 7, 2026.

To receive your free admission, please bring a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card. Showing this identification will grant the Service Member free access to the museum, as well as up to 5 family members.

For more information on this program, please visit the Blue Star Museum webpages at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums

05/05/2026

"Why wouldn’t you help an older person across the street? Why wouldn’t you help your neighbor, who was picking up leaves? And so, that "do a good turn daily," and "being prepared"– I think those are the kinds of things that have helped me throughout my life," recalls Ed Washington, who reflected on his time in Camp Merriwether in the late 1940s and early 1950s. "I think it taught you... a certain amount of self-reliance. How to swim... If you got in trouble, you knew how to use an axe, and a knife, and not hurt yourself or hurt someone else. You knew how to start a fire if you got in that kind of an emergency." He recalled fondly. "But I never got into anything like that, because– I knew how to tie knots, but I wasn’t going to tie a rope to a tree and swing out over a cliff!"

In our current exhibit, "Jennings Lodge Camp: A Gathering Place for Faith, Community, and Revival," we invite visitors to explore the special meaning outdoor experiences hold for Oregonians and the history of camping and scouting in the region through the testimonies of former campers and scouts.

"In a lot of cases, they felt like they were 'out there,' you know, [having] really 'high risk' experiences– but it was a controlled risk, so it gave them confidence," says Peggy Sigler, a former Camp Fire Girl and Assistant Director for Camp Onahlee. "The confidence they got through building outdoor skills, learning to cook on a burner and a Number 10 can."

What memories do you have of camping in the outdoors? While we can't give the "authentic" camping experiences (bugs and dirt are pretty terrible for museum artifacts), we can offer something close all while ensuring you can't be rained out! Visit the Museum of the Oregon Territory this summer and build a virtual campfire, listen to former scouts and campers like Ed and Peggy, and at the end, leave with your own tree-round Camp Name badge!

To start planning your trip, visit our website at clackamashistory.org

05/02/2026

Happy Free Comic Book Day to all who celebrate! 🦸🖌️💥 We thought we'd take the opportunity to highlight the history of Clackamas County's most famous comic book publisher.

For the past forty years, when it comes to comics in the Pacific Northwest, two words have defined the local industry: Dark Horse. Dark Horse Comics is the fourth largest comic book publisher in the United States, and their creations have even made their way into Hollywood with films and television series such as "Hellboy," "The Umbrella Academy," and "300," leaping off the page and onto the screen. Founded in an era when comic books were almost exclusively the realm of tights-wearing superheroes, Dark Horse reimagined what comics could be and expanded their audience to adults through their darker, more mature storylines.

The origin story of Dark Horse Comics begins with comic-book shop owner Mike Richardson and his store, Pegasus Books. After maxing out a two-thousand-dollar credit card, Richardson opened his store in Bend, Oregon, but after successfully launching a comic retail chain in Oregon, he became dissatisfied with the quality of the comics his locations were selling. In 1986, he founded Dark Horse Comics and attracted artists and creatives with an offer that was unheard of at the time: full ownership of their creations and materials. Their flagship series, an anthology titled Dark Horse Presents, was released on July 23, 1986.

Dark Horse made their first collaboration with Hollywood a short two years later in 1988, when the company was chosen to adapt the "Alien" and "Predator" film franchises into a comic book format. The company later began publishing adaptations of video-game franchises, starting with "Mass Effect" in 2009. Today, Dark Horse continues to attract creative talent to Clackamas County, and their headquarters in Milwaukie has become a destination for comic book fans across the country.

Interested in learning about local history? Sign up for our newsletter! This article was originally published under our "This Week In History" series, where readers can learn about our county's heritage via semi-monthly inbox deliveries. To sign up now, visit our website at clackamashistory.org/newsletter.

04/25/2026

Our Look Back series is back Thursday, June 11th at 7pm. And it may make your mouth water. It will certainly get you thinking about why Oregon has so much luscious fruit for the picking.

Willamette Valley author and master gardener Linda Ziedrich will talk about her book, “First Fruits: The Lewellings And The Birth Of the Pacific Coast Fruit Industry.”

Think about this: The most popular cherry in the U.S. is the Bing cherry. It was cultivated in 1875 right here in Clackamas County- in an orchard in Milwaukie, Oregon. That orchard was owned by horticulturist and grower Seth Lewelling. His orchard manager was a Chinese immigrant named Ah Bing. The Bing cherry is named for him.

Seth Lewelling was one of three Lewelling brothers who came West in the 1840s. They were planters, grafters and breeders and their legacy is the fruit industry in both Oregon and California.

It was Henderson Lewelling who came first from Iowa, bringing with him a wagonload of 700 grafted trees– apple, pear, peach, cherry, and plum- that would become the first orchard of grafted trees in the Oregon Territory. Those trees and the Lewellings quickly found their roots in Oregon soil.

As important as the Lewellings are to Oregon agriculture, the Lewellings are fascinating characters in other ways as well. They were democratic reformers, abolitionists, adventurers and explorers. They were one-time Quakers who, out West, turned to Spiritualism.

You can see this presentation at the Museum of the Oregon Territory on Thursday, June 11, 2026, at 7PM. Admission is $10 for Members, $20 for Non-Members. For more information and updates, visit our website at clackamashistory.org.

04/18/2026

Waiting out the rainy days while waiting for Summer to get here? ☔ Stay nice and dry at the Museum of the Oregon Territory! We premiered two new exhibits last year: "Land and People of the Willamette Valley: A History Shaped by the River" and "Jennings Lodge Camp: A Gathering Place for Faith, Community, and Revival." You can hear the roaring sound of the Willamette Falls without having to wear a poncho, or pull up a log and build a virtual campfire in our camping display. Even better: each ticket to MOOT is a two-for-one deal! You can use your admission to see our other museum, the Stevens-Crawford Heritage House, within 30 days of purchase. Spend one Saturday cozied up indoors while watching the falls view, and the next enjoying the spring sunshine while checking out the historic McLoughlin neighborhood. Sound like a plan? ✨🌸

To start planning your trip, visit our website at clackamashistory.org.

04/09/2026

Love history? Want to support your local non-profit? Consider becoming a CCHS Member! Memberships start at just $25, and you receive the following benefits:
● Free admission for an entire year to both of our museums: the Museum of the Oregon Territory and the Stevens-Crawford Heritage House.
● Copies of the CCHS newsletter, The Compass, sent to your address.
● Free or reduced admission to select CCHS events, as well as options for reserved seating to the Look Back Lecture Series.
● Automatic enrollment in the Time Travelers network, giving CCHS members discounts, reduced admission, and other perks at over 400 Time Traveler participating institutions, including: the Oregon Historical Society, Cascade Locks Historical Museum, the Willamette Heritage Center, the Pendleton Air Museum, and many more.
● A 10% discount on CCHS Gift Shop purchases and a special reduced membership rate when purchasing digital copies of photographs from the CCHS collection.
+ Even more benefits for supporters who purchase at the Family level or higher.

To enroll, purchase a membership through our website at clackamashistory.org.

04/03/2026

Experience the magic of Willamette Falls- both past and present! 🌊 In addition to having a beautiful view of the falls, also known as Tumwata, the Museum of the Oregon Territory has a new exhibit detailing the importance the river has had for generations of Oregonians. In "Land & People of the Willamette Valley: A History Shaped by the River," you can listen to audio of the waterfall while learning about the many cultures, communities, and industries that developed along the river. Leave a postcard, send a telegram, and even watch a movie. To plan your trip, visit our website at clackamashistory.org .

03/25/2026

🕖 ‼️Our newest history lecture is TOMORROW, and it's free for Clackamas County Residents! Presented by Kathryn Sinor, uncover the incredible story involving one Lake Oswego man, six women, and 306 love letters sent over the course of two years in "Burn After Reading: Oswego Love Letters from 1919 - 1921".

In 2020, a collection of love letters was discovered in the attic of a historic house in Lake Oswego. They revealed the story of a local man freshly back from World War I and the 306 love letters sent to him by multiple young women. Discover the voices of these women, the hardships they faced, and the love they shared, all the way from a Washington logging camp to a Portland hotel to an Oregon schoolhouse in a present-day ghost town. In this lecture by Kathryn Sinor, delve into the lives and perspectives that often get washed away to history, all through the eyes of an Oswego heartbreaker.

You can see this presentation at the Museum of the Oregon Territory on Thursday, March 26, 2025, at 7PM.

Admission is FREE for Clackamas County residents, thanks to the Community Ties Giving Program! For non-Clackamas County residents, admission is $10 for Members, $20 for Non-Members.

For more information and updates, visit our website at clackamashistory.org.

03/20/2026

In our exhibit "Jennings Lodge: A Gathering Place for Faith, Community, and Revival," visitors can get a taste for the outdoors without all the bugs and rain 🐛☔ Pull up a log and listen to stories from former Jennings Lodge Campers, Boy Scouts, and Camp Fire Scouts as they recount how Oregon's wild spaces shaped them into the people they are today. Get hands-on by building a simulated campfire, then end your museum trip by making your own tree-round Camp Name badge.

Only at the Museum of the Oregon Territory! Plan your trip today by visiting our website at clackamashistory.org.

03/17/2026

Mark your calendars! Thursday, June 11, we welcome speaker Linda Ziedrich as she presents "First Fruits: The Lewellings and the Birth of the Pacific Coast Fruit Industry" as part of our Look Back Lecture series! 🍎🍒🌸

In this lecture by author Linda Ziedrich, discover the roots of the Pacific coast fruit industry and how the Lewelling brothers hauled a wagonload of fruit trees from Iowa in 1847 and planted the first grafted-fruit orchard in Oregon Country. Learn their fascinating history, not just horticulturists, but also as abolitionists, gold miners, and Quakers-turned-Spiritualists. One attempted to found a utopian colony in Honduras, another helped organize the Grange in California, and the third fought for democratic reforms in Oregon. Spanning the continent and nearly a century, the lives of Henderson, Seth, and John Lewelling provide fresh perspectives on 19th-century westward expansion and Oregon agriculture.

Admission: $10 for Members, $20 for Non-Members

Presentation takes place on Thursday, June 11, 7PM at the Museum of the Oregon Territory. For more information and updates, visit our website at clackamashistory.org.

12/11/2025

TONIGHT! Come see our newest lecture with Jim Nicita, presentation begins at 7 PM!

During the late 1800s, anti-Chinese discrimination was on the rise in Oregon. This was fueled by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned Chinese immigration to the United States. On February 22, 1886, 40 men forced Chinese workers out of Oregon City and onto a steamboat to Portland. The group blamed Chinese laborers for taking jobs from White workers during hard economic times. Join Oregon Historical Quarterly-published author Jim Nicita for a compelling lecture exploring these injustices and the enduring history and legacy of Oregon City’s Chinese community. Discover the stories that have too often been overlooked and gain new insight into the city’s past.

You can see this presentation on Thursday, December 11, 2025, at 7PM.

Admission is FREE for Clackamas County residents, thanks to the Union Pacific Railroad Community Ties Giving Program! For non-Clackamas County residents, admission is $10 for Members, $20 for Non-Members.

For more information and updates, visit our website at clackamashistory.org.

Address

Oregon City, OR

Telephone

(503) 655-5574

Website

http://www.clackamashistory.org/

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