| Lewis County Historical Museum depicts the early settlements and pioneer life in Lewis County, one of the first areas settled in the region and the oldest county in Washington State. The main gallery is dedicated to exhibits reflecting the railroad station, turn-of-the-century Victorian parlor, barber shop, kitchen, and temporary exhibits. Permanent exhibits include a Native American display of Cowlitz and Chehalis tribal material, a blacksmith shop, and a second-hand store dating from the early 1900s. A children's hands-on exhibit area features a mercantile store, old time kitchen, and an activity table. Other displays reflect the predominance of the logging, and a model railroad is currently being constructed. The Lewis County Historical Museum Library houses an extensive collection of research and reference items. Material on over 50,000 subjects, including many family histories, 35,000 obituaries, cemetery and territorial marriage records, as well as Polk Directories and the 1871 Territorial and 1880 Federal Lewis County Census records are also accessible to genealogy and historical researchers. Local area newspapers to 1962, the earliest dating from 1884, along with newspaper abstracts from 1884 to 1899 are also available. In addition, accounts of many of the area's early pioneer families are recorded on an extensive collection of oral history tapes. |
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