Kittitas County Historical Museum

Kittitas County Historical Museum Collecting, preserving, and sharing the history of Kittitas County, Washington (USA), since 1961.

The Kittitas County Historical Museum is a non-profit 501(c)3 museum dedicated to collecting and preserving materials which may help establish, illustrate, and educate about the history of Kittitas County. More information about the museum can be found on its website at http://www.kchm.org

๐ŸŒพ ๐‹๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐’๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ. ๐ƒ๐ž๐ž๐ฉ ๐‘๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ.The Kittitas County Fair is almost here, and once again youโ€™ll find the Museum at the Herita...
08/29/2026

๐ŸŒพ ๐‹๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐’๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ. ๐ƒ๐ž๐ž๐ฉ ๐‘๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ.

The Kittitas County Fair is almost here, and once again youโ€™ll find the Museum at the Heritage Center, ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐š๐ฆ-๐Ÿ”๐ฉ๐ฆ, ๐’๐ž๐ฉ๐ญ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ‘โ€“๐Ÿ•!

This yearโ€™s Fair theme, ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ฆ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐…๐š๐ซ๐ฆ, gives us plenty to work with as we explore the agricultural traditions that have shaped Kittitas County. But 2026 also marks ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“๐ŸŽ ๐ฒ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ƒ๐ž๐œ๐ฅ๐š๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ˆ๐ง๐๐ž๐ฉ๐ž๐ง๐๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž, offering an opportunity to look more broadly at the many histories that make up the American story.

And here in the Kittitas Valley, that story reaches much further back.

Our Heritage Center display will share pieces of the countyโ€™s agricultural and community history while also highlighting the continuing knowledge, traditions, and work of our ๐ˆ๐ง๐๐ข๐ ๐ž๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ, whose connections to this place long predate the founding of the United States and remain very much part of our community today.

Throughout the display, weโ€™ll be bringing together photographs, objects, stories, and different perspectives on the people who have lived, gathered, worked, raised families, and built community here across generations.

There will be plenty to see, and plenty of photographs to explore, so make sure the ๐‡๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ ๐ž ๐‚๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ is one of your stops at the Fair!

๐ŸŽก ๐Š๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฌ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐…๐š๐ข๐ซ | ๐’๐ž๐ฉ๐ญ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ‘โ€“๐Ÿ•, ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” | ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐š๐ฆ-๐Ÿ”๐ฉ๐ฆ

๐Ÿชถ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ญ๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐›๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ!With Fair & Rodeo season just around the corner, Beading Beauties โ€” Monthly Beadwork...
08/24/2026

๐Ÿชถ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ญ๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐›๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ!

With Fair & Rodeo season just around the corner, Beading Beauties โ€” Monthly Beadwork Circle ๐š๐ง๐ Weaving Circle ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ญ๐š๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ข๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ž-๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ ๐›๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ค. There will be ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ž๐š๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ž๐š๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ, ๐€๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’, and ๐ง๐จ ๐–๐ž๐š๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‚๐ข๐ซ๐œ๐ฅ๐ž ๐จ๐ง ๐’๐ž๐ฉ๐ญ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ•.

Thereโ€™s plenty happening in between! This week, the Museum and our partners are busy getting ready for the annual Kittitas County Fair & Ellensburg Rodeo, including another year at the Heritage Center (located under the grandstands).

Once the Fair gets underway, ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฃ๐จ๐ข๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐š๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‡๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ ๐ž ๐‚๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ! Our Tribal partners will be joining us for demonstrations as time and availability allow, alongside everything else happening during Fair & Rodeo, from the Yakama Nation Encampment, Grand Entry, and Rodeo openings to activities throughout the week.

Our friends and partners with the ๐„๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐›๐ฎ๐ซ๐  ๐’๐œ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐ƒ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ญ ๐ˆ๐œ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ๐ค๐ขฬ๐ข๐ง ๐‹๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐š๐ ๐ž & ๐๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐€๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ง ๐‚๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ฆ will then head right into the return of school on September 8.

So our regular gatherings may be taking a short break, but there will still be opportunities to connect, visit, and learn together. ๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐š๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‡๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ ๐ž ๐‚๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ง๐ž๐ฑ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ค, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐ฐ๐žโ€™๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ ๐š๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ž ๐ญ๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ ๐š๐ ๐š๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ!

๐Ÿชถ ๐๐ž๐š๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ž๐š๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ฌ ๐’๐ž๐ฉ๐ญ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–
๐Ÿงบ ๐–๐ž๐š๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‚๐ข๐ซ๐œ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ฌ ๐Ž๐œ๐ญ๐จ๐›๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ“

๐Ÿงบ ๐๐š๐œ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐œ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ž๐š๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐œ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง!Our annual display at Ida Nason Aronica Elementary School is ba...
08/23/2026

๐Ÿงบ ๐๐š๐œ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐œ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ž๐š๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐œ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง!

Our annual display at Ida Nason Aronica Elementary School is back, with a fresh look for the new school year.

This year, we worked closely with members of the Ida Nason Aronica family to rethink the display, from the photographs and interpretive text to the stories and objects given center stage. Family input helped shape a renewed focus on family, food, animals, and the many Indigenous artists whose names are no longer known.

The display features basketry, beadwork, photographs, and other belongings connected to the family, while giving a much larger role to the baskets themselves. Many were created by unidentified Indigenous artists, whose names may have become separated from their work but whose skill and artistry remain very much present.

We also simplified the exhibit with our youngest visitors in mind, creating more room to look, notice, compare, and ask questions.

A huge thank-you to the Nason Aronica family for continuing to share their collection, stories, and knowledge, and to Ida Nason Aronica Elementary School and the Ellensburg School District for welcoming this partnership each year. ๐Ÿ’›

If you'd like to view the display, please check with the school office.

And you can always see more at the Kittitas County Historical Museum, open Mondayโ€“Saturday, 10 AMโ€“4 PM in downtown Ellensburg.

๐Ÿšถโœจ ๐Ž๐ง๐ž ๐ฅ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฅ๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ!Our final scheduled Guided History Walking Tours โ€” Summer 2026 event with local historian M...
08/15/2026

๐Ÿšถโœจ ๐Ž๐ง๐ž ๐ฅ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฅ๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ!

Our final scheduled Guided History Walking Tours โ€” Summer 2026 event with local historian Mike McCloskey begins ๐ญ๐จ๐๐š๐ฒ, ๐’๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐š๐ฒ, ๐€๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“, ๐š๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ ๐€๐Œโ€”and thereโ€™s still room to join us!

๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ FREE | Space available
๐Ÿ“ Departs from the Kittitas County Historical Museum
โฑ๏ธ Approximately 90 minutes

๐Ÿ‘‰ Reserve your spot:
https://buytickets.at/kittitascountyhistoricalsocietyinc/2204934

Walk-ups are welcome if space remains. Come explore historic downtown Ellensburg with us!

โ›๏ธ ๐€ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐Š๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฌ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ'๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฉ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ.This historic photograph from the Kittitas County Historical Museum coll...
08/09/2026

โ›๏ธ ๐€ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐Š๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฌ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ'๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฉ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ.

This historic photograph from the Kittitas County Historical Museum collection was taken somewhere in the Libertyโ€“Blewett Pass area, though little else is known about it.

What the image does reveal is the work itself. The miner appears to be feeding gravel into a simple wooden sluice box, where running water washed away lighter material while heavier particlesโ€”including goldโ€”settled for recovery. It was a straightforward process, but one that helped shape the history of the Liberty Mining District and the people who sought their fortunes there.

If this photograph sparks your curiosity, ๐ญ๐จ๐๐š๐ฒ (๐’๐ฎ๐ง๐๐š๐ฒ, ๐€๐ฎ๐  ๐Ÿ—) ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐š๐œ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐ฐ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Œ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ซ'๐ฌ ๐†๐จ๐ฅ๐ & ๐†๐ฎ๐ง ๐’๐ก๐จ๐ฐ at the Kittitas Valley Event Center.

Be sure to stop by the ๐Š๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฌ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐‡๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฎ๐ฆ booth! We've brought a specially curated selection of books inspired by the show, from local history and geology to mining, prospecting, folklore, and the Pacific Northwest. Featured titles include ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ฉ๐’†๐’‚๐’–๐’•๐’š ๐’๐’‡ ๐’‚๐’ ๐‘ฌ๐’๐’๐’†๐’๐’”๐’ƒ๐’–๐’“๐’ˆ ๐‘ฉ๐’๐’–๐’† ๐‘จ๐’ˆ๐’‚๐’•๐’†, the original ๐‘ฌ๐’๐’๐’†๐’๐’”๐’ƒ๐’–๐’“๐’ˆ ๐‘ฉ๐’๐’–๐’† ๐‘จ๐’ˆ๐’‚๐’•๐’†, along with historic photographs and artifacts from the Museum's collections, plus Museum stickers, magnets, postcards, and more.

As you explore the show, don't miss the demonstrations, speakers, prospecting clubs, fellow history organizations, and the many vendorsโ€”including those offering beautiful Ellensburg Blue Agates and other regional treasures.

๐Ÿ“ ๐“๐จ๐๐š๐ฒ (๐’๐ฎ๐ง๐๐š๐ฒ, ๐€๐ฎ๐  ๐Ÿ—)
๐Ÿ•˜ ๐Ÿ—:๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ ๐š.๐ฆ.โ€“๐Ÿ’:๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ ๐ฉ.๐ฆ.
๐Ÿ“ Kittitas Valley Event Center

We hope you'll stop by, say hello, and discover a little more about the history beneath your feet.

๐Ÿ“ธ ๐‘€๐‘–๐‘›๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ž ๐‘ ๐‘™๐‘ข๐‘–๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ฅ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐ฟ๐‘–๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘ฆโ€“๐ต๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘ก ๐‘ƒ๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž. ๐ธ๐‘ฅ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘ก ๐‘‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’, ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›, ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘ข๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘˜๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘›. ๐พ๐ถ๐ป๐‘€ ๐ถ๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘™๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› 1998:051:137๐‘Ž.

A few weeks ago, we gathered for A Century of Water: 100 Years of the Kittitas Division, presented in partnership with t...
08/05/2026

A few weeks ago, we gathered for A Century of Water: 100 Years of the Kittitas Division, presented in partnership with the Kittitas Reclamation District.

The event marked the debut of our new permanent exhibit, ๐‘ฐ๐’“๐’“๐’Š๐’ˆ๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ฒ๐’Š๐’•๐’•๐’Š๐’•๐’‚๐’” ๐‘ฝ๐’‚๐’๐’๐’†๐’š, and featured two presentations by historian ๐Š๐ž๐ฅ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฒ ๐ƒ๐จ๐ง๐œ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ. Those presentations are now available to watch on YouTube:

๐ƒ๐ฒ๐ง๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ž, ๐ƒ๐ซ๐š๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐”๐ง๐ž๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ ๐‚๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐š ๐๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐“๐ฎ๐ง๐ง๐ž๐ฅ
https://youtu.be/4F2qNk68FHw

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐’๐š๐ ๐š ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐Š๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฌ ๐‘๐ž๐œ๐ฅ๐š๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ƒ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ญ: ๐Œ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐“๐ก๐š๐ง ๐š ๐‚๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐Œ๐š๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ 
https://youtu.be/LWqP_Bi8MCY

You can also stop by to see ๐‘ฐ๐’“๐’“๐’Š๐’ˆ๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ฒ๐’Š๐’•๐’•๐’Š๐’•๐’‚๐’” ๐‘ฝ๐’‚๐’๐’๐’†๐’š in person during First Friday Art Walk (August 7th, 5-7pm) or during our regular hours: Mondayโ€“Saturday, 10 AMโ€“4 PM.

๐Ÿ“ธ Historian Kelsey Doncaster presenting during ๐€ ๐‚๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐–๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ: ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ ๐˜๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐Š๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฌ ๐ƒ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง at the Kittitas County Historical Museum.

๐Ÿชถโœจ ๐€๐ฅ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ Beading Beauties โ€” Monthly Beadwork Circle!The tables are set, the chairs are in place, and before lo...
07/28/2026

๐Ÿชถโœจ ๐€๐ฅ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ Beading Beauties โ€” Monthly Beadwork Circle!

The tables are set, the chairs are in place, and before long this room will be filled with beadwork, conversation, laughter, and creativity. We're looking forward to spending the evening with everyone at Beading Beauties, beginning at 6:00 PM.

If you can't make it tonight, we hope you'll join us next Monday, ๐€๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ‘, for our monthly Weaving Circle. Like Beading Beauties, it's another welcoming evening to gather, create, share ideas, and enjoy good company at the Museum.

๐€ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐œ๐ค ๐ซ๐ž๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ: There will be ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ž๐š๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ž๐š๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐€๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ and ๐ง๐จ ๐–๐ž๐š๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‚๐ข๐ซ๐œ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐’๐ž๐ฉ๐ญ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ, so next week's Weaving Circle will be our final gathering until Beading Beauties returns in September.

๐Ÿ•• ๐๐ž๐š๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ž๐š๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ: Tonight (July 27), 6:00โ€“8:00 PM
๐Ÿงบ ๐–๐ž๐š๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‚๐ข๐ซ๐œ๐ฅ๐ž: Monday, August 3, 6:00โ€“8:00 PM
๐Ÿ“ Kittitas County Historical Museum, 114 E 3rd Ave, Ellensburg

Hosted in partnership with the Ellensburg School District Ichiskรญin Language & Native American Culture Program.

โ›๏ธ ๐–๐ž'๐ซ๐ž ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐š ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ž๐ง๐ ๐œ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐›๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Š๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฌ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ'๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ ๐ž!The Kittitas County Historical Museu...
07/27/2026

โ›๏ธ ๐–๐ž'๐ซ๐ž ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐š ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ž๐ง๐ ๐œ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐›๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Š๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฌ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ'๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ ๐ž!

The Kittitas County Historical Museum will be joining our friends at the ๐’๐ฐ๐š๐ฎ๐ค ๐Œ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ƒ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ญ for the ๐๐š๐œ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐ฐ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Œ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ซ'๐ฌ ๐‘๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ & ๐†๐ฎ๐ง ๐’๐ก๐จ๐ฐ on ๐€๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ–-๐Ÿ— at the Kittitas Valley Event Center.

Established in 1873, the Swauk Mining District has played an important role in preserving and promoting the region's rich mining history. Their annual rally brings together prospectors, rockhounds, collectors, historians, and curious visitors for a weekend dedicated to the people, places, and traditions of mining in the Pacific Northwest, including prospecting demonstrations, geology presentations, and, of course, the world-famous Ellensburg Blue Agate.

We'll have a booth throughout the weekend featuring local mining history, Museum publications, merchandise, and information about our exhibits and collections. If you're attending, we'd love for you to stop by and say hello.

๐Ÿ“… ๐€๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ–-๐Ÿ—, ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ”
๐Ÿ•˜ Saturday: 9 AM-6 PM | Sunday: 9 AM-4 PM
๐Ÿ“ Kittitas Valley Event Center, Ellensburg
๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ Admission is $10 and includes both days. Children 12 and under are free and receive panning dirt to take home their own gold.

For additional event information, visit swaukminingdistrict.org.

โ˜€๏ธ ๐–๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐Š๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฌ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐ž.A trip to the Yakima River has long been ...
07/26/2026

โ˜€๏ธ ๐–๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐Š๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฌ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐ž.

A trip to the Yakima River has long been one of the best ways to cool off.

This photograph captures four people enjoying a summer day somewhere along the Yakima River. We don't know who they were, exactly where they stopped, or even when this photograph was taken. But looking at it, it's easy to imagine the cool water, the warm rocks, and the laughter that probably echoed along the riverbank.

The bathing suits and swim caps may have changed over the years, but the tradition hasn't.

Here in the middle of another hot Kittitas County summer, people are still heading to the river to float, swim, stretch out on the shoreline, and spend time with the people they care about. Generations apart, yet somehow not so different.

๐Ÿ“ธ Do you have a favorite Yakima River memory? We'd love to hear where you went, who you were with, or what made it special.

๐Ÿ“ฃ ๐–๐ž'๐ ๐‹๐จ๐ฏ๐ž ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐…๐ž๐ž๐๐›๐š๐œ๐ค!If you attended our inaugural ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’† ๐‘บ๐’•๐’๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’” ๐‘พ๐’† ๐‘บ๐’‰๐’‚๐’“๐’† fundraiser, attendee surveys have now been ...
07/25/2026

๐Ÿ“ฃ ๐–๐ž'๐ ๐‹๐จ๐ฏ๐ž ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐…๐ž๐ž๐๐›๐š๐œ๐ค!

If you attended our inaugural ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’† ๐‘บ๐’•๐’๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’” ๐‘พ๐’† ๐‘บ๐’‰๐’‚๐’“๐’† fundraiser, attendee surveys have now been emailed to everyone whose email address we received through registration.

Your feedback will help us celebrate what worked well and identify opportunities to make next year's event even better.

Didn't receive a survey but attended the event? We'd still love to hear from you! Simply email us at [email protected], and we'll be happy to send you the survey link.

Thank you again for making our first ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’† ๐‘บ๐’•๐’๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’” ๐‘พ๐’† ๐‘บ๐’‰๐’‚๐’“๐’† such a memorable evening. We appreciate your support and look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Address

114 E 3rd Avenue
Ellensburg, WA
98926

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+15099253778

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