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Oregon Historical Society Museum

Oregon Historical Society Museum
Oregon Historical Society entrance 2014.jpg
Oregon Historical Society Museum is located in Portland, Oregon
Oregon Historical Society Museum
Location within Portland, Oregon
Established 1898
Location Portland, Oregon, United States
Coordinates 45°30′57″N 122°40′56″W / 45.515903°N 122.682186°W / 45.515903; -122.682186
Type private: history
Visitors 44,000 (est. 2010)
Director Kerry Tymchuk
Website ohs.org

The Oregon Historical Society Museum is a history museum housed at the Oregon Historical Society in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The museum was created in 1898 and receives about 44,000 visitors annually.

It houses the Portland Penny that decided the city’s name. This 1835 copper penny was flipped to decide between the names of Boston and Portland, with Portland as the winner. The museum contains over 85,000 artifacts, and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

The museum is operated by the Oregon Historical Society. It began at the turn of the 19th century with a small museum located at Portland City Hall in downtown Portland. In 1913, the historical society and the museum moved from city hall to the Tourny Building, at 2nd and Taylor streets. In 1917, they moved again, to the then-new Public Auditorium (later Civic Auditorium, then Keller Auditorium).

In 1966, the museum relocated again to its current home on the South Park Blocks, at 1200 SW Park Avenue. The Society originally owned the full city block between Madison and Jefferson streets and SW Park and Broadway, but sold part of this property in 2014 when it sold the Sovereign Hotel. There is a large mural on this nine-story building called Oregon History, painted by Richard Haas that depicts the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Part of the sales agreement stated that both the building, built in 1923, and the mural would be preserved.

The museum's lobby was remodeled in 2002–2003 at a cost of $3.75 million. Attendance in 2002 totaled 26,791 patrons for the museum. For much of its history the historical society received funding from the state and from Multnomah County, but in 2003 that ended. The 2007 legislature allocated $625,000 to the society, followed by $2.5 million in for 2009 to 2011. A ballot measure was later passed by Multnomah County voters providing funding; in exchange county residents get free admission. The museum's attendance totaled about 44,000 visitors in 2010.


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