North Lincoln County Historical Museum

06/12/2026

Love and Landscapes explores the lives, art, and enduring partnership of local artists and lovers of the coastal landscape, Ruth Grover and Martha Renfroe (better known as science-fiction author M. K. Wren).

Through paintings, sketches, photographs, and excerpts from Wren’s book A Gift Upon the Shore, this exhibit reveals the interconnection between their creative and personal lives and the natural environment of Oregon Coast. Discover a story of creativity, community, and the landscapes that shaped a remarkable legacy on the Oregon Coast.

05/28/2026

The Pixie Kitchen🧚‍♀️

This well-loved restaurant was located along Highway 101 in Wecoma, a town on the north end of what is today Lincoln City. Famous for its fun atmosphere and friendly hospitality, the Pixie Kitchen became an essential stop for countless families on their trips to the Oregon Coast.

Originally called Pixie Pot Pies by owners Mr. and Mrs. T.C. Gallagher and Loren Cleoworth, the small restaurant first served take-home pies and fresh cobbler. Under the ownership of Jerry and Lu Parks, the renovated and redecorated Pixie Kitchen opened in May 1953. Guests were greeted by pixies on top of the restaurant, quirky funhouse mirrors, and magical creatures seen moving in the grotto outside restaurant windows.

What are your favorite Pixie Kitchen memories?

Learn more about the Pixie Kitchen and its proceeding amusement park, Pixieland, by watching the documentary “The Forgotten Story of Pixieland: The Oregon Coast Amusement Park” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuqdoGzksTk

05/25/2026

On a day to pause in remembrance for the lives lost serving in the U.S. military, many will gather in Depoe Bay for the 81st annual event - Fleet of Flowers.

This community tradition builds upon Memorial Day and honors seafarers who were lost at sea. Boats adorned with flowers and cedar wreaths will pass through the Depoe Bay harbor and form a circle off the coast. The names of those passed are read aloud into the salty and restorative ocean air as people gather along the rocky shore to remember the lives of loved ones, family, and friends.

05/21/2026

This Saturday, May 23, the museum will host the Oregon Coastal Quilter’s Guild as they gather to examine and document quilts from 9am-3:30pm. If you have a quilt that you’d like to learn more about, please call the following number to schedule an appointment, 541-602-7360.

In other quilt news! The Ziller Quilt exhibit will be concluding as we prepare for a new exhibit that we’re sure you’ll love! Ziller’s quilt will be on display again at the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center in Newport from November 2026 to February 2027.

The Ziller quilt was made by Ziller Smith, a Black American woman who traveled from Missouri to Oregon in the early 1900s to reunite with close friends, the Poe family, and help ailing family member Andrew Jackson Poe who asked for her company in Lostine, OR. Ziller’s “crazy”-style quilt is a unique treasure that highlights the orchestrated art of piecing together random fabrics into a cohesive and beautiful quilt. Far from erratic, a closer look into the intentional embellishments and intricate embroidered symbols may reveal hinted moments and messages that Ziller wove into this lasting art piece – one piece in her equally intricate life story.

05/19/2026

Make history and VOTE! The Oregon statewide primary election is TODAY, May 19. An Official Ballot Drop Box is located at Lincoln City City Hall - in the parking lot, not under the city hall building. To be counted, ballots must be received at an Official Ballot Drop Site by 8:00 p.m. May 19 or postmarked by May 19.

For more information on the Primary Elections visit: https://www.co.lincoln.or.us/208/Elections

Pictured is a 1942 voter registration card held by Esther (Niemi) Hill. Ester and her family were amongst the many Finnish families who moved to the Oregon coast at the turn of the 20th century.

05/14/2026

Florals? For spring? Wild rhododendrons, with striking clusters of pink to purple flowers, were once found throughout the landscape known today as Lincoln City. Rhododendrons, or rhodies for short, thrive in acidic and well drained soil. The ideal soil paired with the cool and wet climate of the Oregon Coast creates a prime area for rhododendrons to grow abundantly and to great heights.

Increasing construction and development in the 1920s and 30s threatened the presence of rhododendrons and in 1938 community members organized the North Lincoln Rhododendron Society to preserve as many wild rhodies as possible. The township, Cutler City, had the most plants and was named the “Rhododendron Capital”. During the month of May, between 1938 and 1941, Rhododendron Days and Festivals of Beauty were local events held to celebrate peak bloom time.

Have you noticed any rhododendrons throughout Lincoln City or along Highway 101? You can also visit The Connie Hansen Garden to see spectacular spring blooms on display.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day! 💐

Pictured are members of the Oregon Ambulance Corp posing for a photo in Oceanlake. The Oregon Ambulance Corp was a defense group made up of volunteers who were trained to provide transportation, first aid, firefighting, and communication during World War II. What inspired these women to join the Oregon Ambulance Corp? Their decisions may resemble the sentiment that originally inspired Mother’s Day – women choosing to support and serve their communities in the face of conflict and unrest.

The origins of Mother’s Day in the United States goes back to women advocating for peace as they processed the loss of life during war times. The women accredited in the initial movements for the holiday are Julia Ward Howe and Ann Jarvis.

In 1870, writer and social justice advocate, Julia Ward Howe, witnessed the tragedies of the Civil War as a worker for the US Sanitary Commission. She wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation” which asked women to come together to avoid further bloodshed and states, "From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: ‘Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.’”

Social activist Ann Maria Jarvis organized community groups to improve hygienic and environmental conditions after the loss of her children due to disease. She also asked women’s groups to help Confederate and Union troops who were sick or wounded from battle. After the Civil War, Ann Jarvis continued to promote unity by bringing together families from both sides of the war. Her daughter, Anna Jarvis, worked to establish a national Mothers’ Day in remembrance of her mother and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson issued the proclamation for the national holiday.

05/06/2026

The Lincoln County Historical Society is housed in 4 different historic buildings. As we're well aware in our own, these buildings require lots of maintenance to keep up with our coastal climate (especially when we also need to be certain the contents are protected from the elements and humidity!). Please help our friends preserve Central Oregon Coast's history by donating any amount you can to the Lincoln County Historical Society, Newport.

Spring Fundraiser! Help keep history standing by donating to help preserve our 9th street facilities. These facilities house the bulk of the Central Oregon Coast's historical and cultural objects, documents, photographs and more! Follow the link below (on Facebook) or find our website link in our bio (Instagram) for more information and to donate today. Thank you for the support!

oregoncoasthistory.org/springfundraiser

05/01/2026

May Day is a celebration of springtime. Longer days, a renewal of warmth, emerging growth, and new life.

May Day is also a day of solidarity. A time to recognize the workers who built and continue to sustain our communities. At North Lincoln County Historical Museum it is both of these, and the welcoming of tourist season!

These photos from our collections show people working to shape the communities we know and love today. We exist because of the labor, resilience, and care from those who built our homes, businesses, bridges, roads and industries. Indigenous communities, immigrant homesteaders, fishers, farmers, and loggers. Glass blowers, chefs, librarians, hotel workers, baristas, park rangers, and civil servants. The Oregon Coast you know today and love to visit exists because of them.

While the Haymarket affair took place far from here and before Lincoln County was established in 1893, it helped spark the global labor movement. The rights that American workers rely on today were won over generations through organizing, persistence, and community building.

This May Day NLCHM remains open in service to our mission: to provide free, public access to the history of this region. While we are working, we stand in recognition of the workers who have shaped our communities: from early loggers, dairy farmers, fishers, and cannery workers who built local industry, to the immigrant and homegrown laborers who continue to care for the hotels, restaurants, public spaces, and businesses that sustain our coastal economy.
Spring reminds us that things grow. May Day reminds us that care & resilience are built together.

What does May Day mean to you?

To learn more about the history of May Day in the United States, you can visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History’s website here: https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/may-day-americas-traditional-radical-complicated-holiday-part-1

04/25/2026

Happy Independent Bookstore Day! 📚
Earl Nelson opened the Lincoln Book Shop and Lending Library in 1937. Described as a true intellectual, Earl had a personal collection of books that made “one of the nation’s finest libraries”. Due to an early childhood illness, Earl had a reserved upbringing and found solace in books, movies, and the arts. His lending library started as a few shelves in the Taft-Nelscott Water District office and grew into his own bookshop on the Nelscott Strip which served as a gathering place for community members to celebrate art and culture. The legacy of independent bookstores continues in Lincoln City with Robert’s Bookshop located right across Highway 101 from the original building that housed the Lincoln Book Shop and Lending Library.