Eastern Oregon Museum Association - Grant County Historical Museum history

History of the Museum

The collection of artifacts that come alive in the museum begun in the 1920's by Charley Brown and Cy Bingham. In the 1940's, local rancher and banker, Herman Oliver, became interested in the collection, and in finding a permanent home for it. June of 1953 brought about the opening of a cement block building in Canyon City and the "Herman and Eliza Oliver Museum" was born! That summer, over 6,000 visitors came to see the collection! By the 1960's, the collection had increased and four small rooms were added to the building to house musical instruments, items related to logging and ranching, the Indian artifacts and the last room, to honor the Oliver's who were such a part of the community! Later in the 1960's, Joaquin Miller's cabin was moved from its site on Rebel Hill. And one night, the jail from the ghost town of Greenhorn mysteriously appeared on the museum property. In the mid 1980's, the name of the museum was changed to encompass the entire county and it became the Grant County Historical Museum.

During the years, many people have both paid and volunteers have given their time and hearts to keeping the museum doors open. In 1998, the museum took the step of hiring a curator/manager! The museum is better organized, much cleaner and more visitor friendly now. And we keep making improvements, as needs come to our attention. In 2003, displays were moved and carpeting was laid to make for sure-footing over cement floors, cracked by age, mine trailings underneath the building, and the former route of Canyon Creek! Many displays are now on elevated platforms to make them more visually attractive. Historical information and stories accompany almost every exhibit to give the visitor a way to relate the artifact to the people who lived here over the years! In 2004, the museum moved into the Internet Age by adding e-mail and a website! In 2005, we hope to begin a new and complete inventory, digitally photographing each item and storing that information on the computer! The large collection of vintage photographs will also be scanned into the computer and hopefully, the ephemera files will move into the computer age after that. As we try to mesh the history of Grant County with the modern age, we hope that you will visit us and see "WHERE HISTORY COMES ALIVE!"