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Lane County Historical Museum
The Lane County Historical Museum
is a place where you can escape from today and discover yesterday. Imagine crossing the Oregon Trail to the Willamette Valley in a covered wagon, or dressing up for a 1920's evening out. This and more await you as you visit the past and experience the many treasures it holds.
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Dr. Calvin Reed's Wagon
About 1850 Dr. Calvin Reed sold everything he owned in Iowa, and bought a brand new covered wagon. He packed his wife and 6 kids into the wagon
headed West for Oregon. A seventh child was born along the way, in the wagon on Barlow road.
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The Reed wagon is the oldest wagon in the state that
actually came across the Oregon Trail.
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Doctors Coach
In the late 19th century, if you were a successful doctor, you made your house calls in a horse carriage like the one above. If there were no good roads, or you couldn't afford the fourty seven dollars for a coach, you would make your house calls on horse back.
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The Old Stage
Oh for the good ol' days. No air conditioning in the summer, no heater in the winter, no windows any time of the year. They were bouncy, dirty, noisy and usually smelled like horses. However, if you wanted to go from here to there, you took the stage. Oh for the good ol' days!
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The Farm Wagon
They don't build them like this anymore. If you had one of these wagons and a good team of horses, you could haul just about anything. You might need to take a dip in the pond when you were finished for the day, but you would have been able to do a days work.
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If you had one of these wagons back when this wagon was made,
it would have been like having one of those big ol' dullie trucks today.
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Classy Coach
If you were very successful back in the good ol' days, you would have owned a nice coach. They were padded, had provisions for covering the windows, and as a rule they were fairley comfortable. If it was raining, the driver would get soaked but you would stay dry.
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Williams Bakery Wagon
How would you like to get up at four in the morning, load this wagon with fresh bread, hook the wagon to your horse, or team of horses, and then spend the rest of the morning delivering bread? Sounds like fun... maybe for one day.
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Lane County Clerk's Office
Built in 1853, this is the oldest authentic building in Lane County, private or public. It cost one hundred dollars to build and was sixteen feet by twenty feet. The first jury trial in Lane county to be held inside of a building, was held in this building.
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The first jury trial held in Eugene, was held under a tree.
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The Court House Bell
This beautiful big ol' bell came from the old court house that was built in the 1898. The display stands about five feet tall.
The bell itself is twenty eight inches high and thirty six inches in diameter, and could be heard throught Eugene.
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The Stair Case
This old stair case was saved when they tore down the old court house. You can just imagine some of the people that went up and down these stairs during the many years before the house came down. Judges, attorneys, good guys and bad guys, all went up and down these stairs.
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The Old Model T
WOW! just look at that beauty. Gas was about seven cents a gallon and the car cost about three hundred dollars.
You had your choice of colors if your choice was black. The seats were genuine leather, and you could go a long ways on two dollars worth of gas.
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There was a top that you could fold up and it would keep you dry, unless it was raining. and you could go twenty miles an hour
if the roads were dry and they had removed most of the rocks. The old Model T above, was the property of a prominent
Eugene auto dealer by the name of Kendall.
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Shelton/McMurphey House
This is a lighted model of the Shelton-McMurphey house that has been located on the side of Skinner's Butte since 1888. It is located just North of the train station and is now a Museum.
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The Comforts Of Home
Imagine a nice fire in the fire place, the lamps all filled with fuel, and the family is in the living room visiting. The evenings were spent visiting, reading or just resting. There was no TV set, and many of the homes had no way to power a radio.
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No TV, but somehow they managed to know what was going on.
Maybe those were the good ol' days.
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The Loom
With a nice machine like the one above, the lady of the house could weave cloth to make a nice rug, a blanket for the kids bed, or a saddle blanket for dads horse.
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The Old Tree Carving
On June 12th of 1867, Silas R. Condra
carved into a tree the following:
June 12, 1867
Silas R. Condra
Born July 11, 1845
in Nox Co, Ill.
Crossed the
plains in 1853
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Over the next many, many years, new growth grew around the tree and covered the carvings.
When the tree was cut down, part of the growth broke away, exposing his carving
from more than a hundred years ago.
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The Saw Mill Whistle
This old saw mill whistle is about thirty inches tall, and you could hear it for miles. It would signal when to change shifts, when to go home, and could be used to signal if there was an emergency.
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Old Power Chain Saws
The timber industry has been very important in the history of Oregon, and especially in Lane County. A good chain saw was a most important tool when you fed your family with the earnings from falling trees.
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The old saws displayed in the Lane County Historical Museum,
could have brought down some pretty big trees.
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The Old Blacksmith
This display represents a complete blacksmith shop that you could have found before the 1900's. It was hot and hard work, but anyone that had a horse or wagon, needed the local blacksmith.
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Antique Speedboat
This beautiful old boat, circa 1940, is just as beautiful today as when it was first built. There is a lot to see at the Lane County Historical Museum, and it is worth the trip from where ever you live to visit the Eugene area and take in this interesting museum.
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The Old Archives
In addition to all of the old things you can see from the past, there is a lot that you don't see. This museum has the complete old records from Lane County. The records go back to the earyl 1800s.
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Birth records, marriage records, death records, building permits, and court records all preserved and organized.
If it happend in Lane County after 1830, it is most likely recorded in one of these old file cases.
The Lane County Historical Museum
740 West 13th Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97402
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MUSEUM HOURS
Wednesday - Friday 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday & Sunday 12:00 - 4:00
Phone 541-682-4239
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