Information
Landmark: Union County MuseumCity: La Grande
Country: USA Oregon
Continent: North America
Union County Museum, La Grande, USA Oregon, North America
Overview
In the historic town of Union, Oregon, the Union County Museum stands as a hub for preserving and sharing the region’s rich cultural, agricultural, and pioneer past-from worn leather saddles to hand‑stitched quilts that tell the valley’s story.Run almost entirely by volunteers, the museum draws visitors into a hands-on journey through several historic buildings, each one echoing a different chapter of the region’s past.The museum sits at 331 S., tucked between a row of brick storefronts and the scent of fresh coffee drifting from the café next door.Main Street sits right in Union’s National Historic District, where brick storefronts and old lampposts instantly set the scene.The town’s preserved 19th-century buildings and brick-lined streets give visitors a richer, more memorable experience.The museum spans five historic buildings, with its heart in the old First National Bank of Union-built in 1881, its thick brick walls now shelter the main exhibits.Period buildings, well-kept interiors, and genuine artifacts draw you in, until it feels like you’ve slipped quietly into the valley’s past.The Union County Museum showcases a rich mix of artifacts, from faded 19th‑century photographs to tools still smelling faintly of oil, spanning more than 150 years of local history.The exhibits are arranged to bring the region’s story to life-how people settled the land, built their economy, kept traditions alive, and went about their daily routines, from baking bread to trading at the market.Among the highlights is the Cowboys Then & Now Collection, which follows the story of cowboy life in northeastern Oregon-from weathered leather saddles to the worn brim of a trail hat.You’ll find worn leather saddles, weathered branding irons, faded shirts, and old photographs-each one showing how ranching has evolved while honoring the valley’s lasting Western heritage.Agriculture, timber, and transportation-these exhibits dive into the industries that built Union County, from the smell of fresh-cut pine to the rumble of a passing freight train.Visitors can browse early plows, worn irrigation spouts, hefty timber saws, and relics of travel-from dusty stagecoach mailbags to iron rail spikes-that tell the story of how farming and the railroad drove the area’s growth.Step inside the Livery Station and General Store, where every shelf and worn wooden counter has been carefully rebuilt to show you a slice of 19th‑century life.At the livery station, you can see how horses were brushed down and wagons kept in working order, while the general store shows the goods pioneers counted on, from flour in cloth sacks to shelves lined with hand-lettered tins.Period Rooms: Step inside spaces filled with the furniture, fabrics, and everyday objects of their time-from rough-hewn pioneer cabins smelling faintly of woodsmoke to cozy, sunlit parlors of the early 1900s.These period rooms reveal how furniture, home technology, and family traditions have changed over time, letting you almost hear the creak of an old wooden floor underfoot.In the lobby, you’ll find all kinds of treasures-medical tools once used at the Hot Lake Sanitorium, rare stringed instruments, early home electronics, and even a gleaming vintage soda fountain.Over the years, these pieces have shown the community’s quirks as well as its flashes of ingenuity-like a hand-painted bicycle propped in a shop window.The museum has become Union County’s cultural hub, a place where school groups chatter through the halls and neighbors gather for weekend events.It offers educational programs for students, guided tours that help visitors see the place through a storyteller’s eyes, and lively seasonal events that bring the whole community together.By holding on to the past-weathered tools, faded photographs, worn documents, and old brick buildings-it lets residents and visitors see how the region grew from Indigenous homelands to pioneer towns and, eventually, thriving modern neighborhoods.You can visit Wednesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., starting Mother’s Day and running through September.General admission’s $5, seniors pay $4, students $3, and kids under six stroll in free.Most of the museum’s historic buildings are easy to get around in, but a few period rooms-like one with creaking oak floors-have limited access to protect them.Visitors to the Union County Museum often remark on its warm, personal atmosphere, shaped by friendly volunteer guides and the quiet charm of its small-town surroundings.Authentic artifacts, towering old stone walls, and thoughtfully arranged exhibits draw you in, making the experience feel vivid and alive.Unlike the big, impersonal museums, this one leans into hometown stories-ranchers driving cattle through dusty streets, pioneers staking claims, doctors tending patients, and shopkeepers opening their first stores.The Union County Museum isn’t just a place to store old relics-it’s a living record of northeastern Oregon’s past, from worn leather saddles to hand-drawn maps.It keeps alive the valley’s Indigenous heritage, the grit of pioneer days, the dust and sweat of old ranch work, and the story of a community still growing and changing.If you’re traveling through the Grande Ronde Valley, La Grande, or along the Oregon Trail, the museum gives you a place to ground yourself in the area’s history and culture, linking you to Union County’s land and its people-past and present-like the scent of pine carried on a crisp fall breeze.At the museum, history, culture, and hands-on stories come together, making it a must-visit for anyone wanting to grasp the identity and heritage of northeastern Oregon-like the creak of an old wooden wagon wheel echoing through its halls.
