Spotlight on Affiliates

Edited by Richard H. Engeman

Lincoln County Historical Society

By Diane Disse

Lincoln County Historical Society 545 Southwest 9th Street Newport, OR 97365 Phone 541-265-7509 OHS Affiliate since 1950
The lincoln county historical society was formed in 1948 to preserve and tell the history of Oregon's central coastal region. The cities around Yaquina Bay and the Yaquina River were formed by soldiers and workers who staked claims on the former Coast (Siletz) Reservation, fur traders from the north, men who had come with shipping companies to harvest a rare oyster, and families from nearby Corvallis. In 1893, Lincoln County was formed from portions of Benton and Tillamook counties. About the same time, federal allotment policies led to the transfer of lands from Indian ownership, and towns developed in the far north and south of the county. Changing exhibits in the museums of the Lincoln County Historical Society tell the story of people living in a maritime environment, the development of an economic base of tourism, fishing, and logging, and the gradual transfer of land from the Coast Reservation to non-Indian ownership and settlement.	1
One of the society's first major projects was saving the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse from demolition. In 1964, the society established a museum in the lighthouse. In the 1970s, the building was returned to the state, which continues to maintain it as an interpretive site.	2
The historical society opened another museum, the Log Cabin, in 1964. Volunteers constructed the building with donated materials on land donated by the City of Newport. In 1976, the Bank of Newport donated the historic Burrows House, a Queen Anne-style building and the former home of a boarding house and mortuary business, to the society. It was moved to its current location next to the Log Cabin Museum. Another community facility, the Toledo Historical Museum, was opened in Toledo's City Hall in 1999. In 2004, the society began planning its most ambitious project: the Pacific Maritime and Heritage Center, to be located in a historic building on Yaquina Bay in Newport.	3
Boats docked in Newport Bay, 1925 Courtesy Lincoln County Historical Society
Current exhibits include Pathways to the Past: Collecting Coastal History, which shows what the society collects and why, and Home Sweet Home: Shelter and Comfort on the Oregon Coast, which tells about settlers' efforts to bring the comforts of their former homes to the once-isolated coast. The society has published twenty books and three videos, issues a membership letter, sponsors programs and traveling exhibits, and visits schools and community venues with educational programs such as Unplugged Games, an interactive exhibit, and My Town in Lincoln County, a traveling exhibit produced by the society. It also manages an extensive research library, which includes thousands of photographs, and operates stores in both museums.	4

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