Polson Museum

10/07/2026

Please join us on Sunday, October 11 at our Camp Klahanee Lodge to celebrate Richard Bogar as the 2026 Pioneer of the Year. Each year since 1980, the Polson Museum has honored longtime Harborites for their lifelong efforts to better shape and preserve Grays Harbor's history.

Born in Tacoma to Glenn and Alice Bogar on September 18, 1931, Richard moved as a very young boy to Raymond, Wash. where his father opened up that town’s first Safeway. As a youth, Richard attended Raymond schools, graduating there in 1950.

From a young age, Richard’s mechanical curiosity and aptitude blossomed, tinkering with outboards motors and exploring the Willapa Bay sloughs, North River and Smith Creek. Within months of graduation, Uncle Sam came knocking and sent Bogar on a four year Navy tour that led him to Korea and beyond. His skills served him well as a machinist’s mate on the light carrier USS Bataan CVL-29.

After short stints on the green chain at the Raymond Weyerhaeuser sawmill before and after his Naval service, Richard soon advanced to the company’s new pulp mill in Cosmopolis. Newly married in 1957, Richard and his wife Karen moved to Cosmopolis. Because of his deep mechanical curiosity and aptitude, mill management soon promoted him to shift engineer where he excelled in turbine generator, evaporator, and boiler operation.

Since 1960, Richard and his wife have called home a tidy stump farm at Nisson, at the intersection of the East Hoquiam and Wishkah cutoff roads. Richard has had a lifelong passion for researching historic trails, logging camps and splash dams on Grays Harbor. He personally spearheaded pioneering the once-abandoned West Fork Humptulips trail and has documented and restored a Depression-era trapper’s cabin on the Wishkah River.

The museum looks forward to welcoming the public to an afternoon of community fellowship celebrating Richard Bogar this October 11. The Camp Klahanee Lodge is located at 94 Larson Bros. Rd., 13 miles north of Hoquiam off of US101. In keeping with Bogar's love of the outdoors and hiking, be sure to wear a comfortable pair of hiking footwear and plan to spend a little extra time hiking Klahanee's trails following the 2 p.m. program. For more information on this or any other Polson Museum programs, please call 360-533-5862.

09/22/2026

Please join us on a stroll in the woods this Saturday, September 26 for a "Forest Walk and Talk" with Grays Harbor College Forestry Instructor Pat Mahoney. At 1 p.m., Pat will lead guests on a walk through the museum's historic Camp Klahanee property, starting off with a short talk at the 1961 Klahanee lodge. Featuring 80 acres of beautiful forest, including a few old growth trees (the biggest Douglas fir measured there is 5 feet in diameter!), Klahanee is situated on land once owned and logged by the Polson Logging Company in the 1920s. In 1957, the Far West Council of Girl Scouts acquired the property and established the camp which remained under Girl Scout ownership until the Polson Museum acquired it in 2023.

Pat Mahoney is a fascinating speaker whose depth of knowledge and enthusiasm for all things trees is infectious. Pat will take attendees on a long walk through the trail network, exploring the extensive species diversity found in Klahanee’s mature forest, discussing a recent thinning project, forest health, growth and life cycle. Guests are invited to bring their curiosity and questions as Pat loves to be quizzed!

Attendance is free of charge and Klahanee is located at 94 Larson Bros. Rd., 13 miles north of Hoquiam off US101. For additional information, please contact the museum at 360-533-5862.

09/19/2026

Lake Quinault Lodge is celebrating its 100th anniversary today, come on out and enjoy the festivities until 9 pm tonight! “Queenie,” our 1924 Franklin is there to greet you on the beautiful lawn and we’ve prepared a short film on the lodge’s history which is playing next to the grand fireplace.

09/17/2026

This coming Saturday, September 19, the beautiful Lake Quinault Lodge celebrates its 100th anniversary with a day of activities not to be missed. The Polson will be there sharing the remarkable story of the lodge's construction in just 53 days during the summer of 1926. We're also bringing "Queenie," our 1924 Franklin sedan, out for the day since she was just two years old that summer. Check out the full itinerary here and join us this Saturday!

Save the date for a milestone celebration at as we

09/14/2026

So last night, yours truly, Director John Larson, broke out the museum’s 1973 McCullouch 105 Super Pro just for fun to compete in the “hot saw" competition. Though we knew it wouldn’t be a real contender, I was a bit disappointed in its lackluster performance. The motor just wasn’t as “hot”as it typically is. It’s normally a reliable saw but last night it let us down…..

09/13/2026

Big thanks to everyone who makes Loggers Playday such a fabulous community event each year! Here’s a glimpse of the day from the Polson’s vantage points.

08/07/2026

In celebrating America 250, museums across our state have declared tomorrow, August 8 as Washington State Museum Day. Please join us for free admission from 11-4 and celebrate your local history at the Polson!

07/05/2026

We had a marvelous time celebrating America 250 today at the Polson! When the parking lot, lawns and food table are all full of food and cars, you know it was a success… big thanks to everyone who joined us on this historic day!

06/29/2026

Celebrating America 250 at the Polson

The Polson Museum invites the public to a celebratory and historically introspective day marking our nation's 250th birthday. This Saturday, July 4th, we celebrate our nation’s semiquincentennial as well as kick off the Polson's own 50th anniversary as a museum for all of Grays Harbor.

Dust off your favorite cookbook and bring a dish to share at “America’s Potluck” at the Polson. Admission is free all day, the Daughters of the American Revolution will be doing First Lady skits and Museum Director John Larson will present a gallery talk on the museum’s “Moments that Made Us” display which debuts that day. The newly-resurrected Grays Harbor League of Women Voters organization will be on hand with an informational table about their non-partisan work to facilitate candidate forums and encourage voter participation and turnout in elections. And the “Emerald Harbor” folk music trio, consisting of Kyla Etges and Jacqui and Jerrod Phelps, will be on hand to perform two sets, the latter to include a lecture component on the history of each musical selection. Emerald Harbor has prepared a set list full of Americana music to compliment the 250 celebration.

July 4 Schedule of Events

11-4 p.m. Open House, Free Public Admission. Bring a lawn chair, make yourself at home, smell the roses and enjoy the day. Play croquet, co****le and bocce ball on the lawns.

11 a.m. — American folk music warm up by “Emerald Harbor” on the Railroad Camp stage.

11 a.m. - 4 p.m. — League of Women Voters information table.

11 a.m. - 4 p.m. — Polson "Red Car Raffle" tickets at the mansion for a chance to win a "Once in A Blue Moon" Velocity Blue Metallic Ford Bronco and a "blued" barrel 1 of 1,000 R***r 10/22 Classic r***e. For America 250, the Polson has gone "True Blue American" with this 2-door Bronco hardtop!

11:30 onward — “America’s Potluck” — bring a dish to share with your friends and neighbors!

12 p.m. Robert Gray Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution present “First Lady” historical re-enactment skit on the Railroad Camp stage.

1 p.m. — Gallery talk in the Polson mansion with Museum Director John Larson debuting the Polson’s new “250” themed local history exhibit alongside “Moments that Made Us” — a video panel exhibition created by History Colorado in partnership with the Washington State Historical Society and other state history museums. This exhibit will remain up for the rest of the year.

2:30 p.m. — American folk music sing along and discussion by “Emerald Harbor” on the Railroad Camp stage.

And for the remainder of 2026, the Polson is encouraging the public to become more involved with their community history museum by becoming a Polson Museum member. Admission is on us during the second Sunday of every month through the end of the year to celebrate America at 250.

For more information on this or any other happenings at the Polson, please visit polsonmuseum.org or phone 360-533-5862. The museum is located at 1611 Riverside Ave. in Hoquiam.

06/27/2026

Enjoy a little photographic taste of the monster rummage sale we have in store for you tomorrow, Saturday, June 27! Doors open at 9:00 a.m. sharp and we’re open until 4:00 p.m. One day only, there’s so much stuff we need to move, prices are dirt cheap…. Come find a treasure!