What are the opening hours?

Wednesday 11am - 4:30pm Thursday 11am - 4:30pm Friday 11am - 4:30pm Saturday 11am - 4:30pm Sunday 11am - 4:30pm

Lopez Island Historical Society & Museum

Name: Lopez Island Historical Society & Museum
Address: 28 Washburn Place/P. O. Box 163, Lopez Island, WA, 98261, US
Telephone: (360) 468-2049
Price range: $

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Lopez Island Historical Society & Museum

The Lopez Island Historical Society collects, preserves & shares local history. Open Wednesday-Sunday, 11:00AM-4:30PM, May-October.

Call or email for a research appointment. The one constant characteristic of history is that things change. We work hard to collect and catalog important items that chronicle Lopez Island history. We make them available to you as exhibits and programs, archives, family records and photos. We help researchers discover long-lost family, and new islanders learn about their new home and neighbors. Our

vision is of an exciting, welcoming, educational place to learn family and local history, tell our stories, foster respect for our unique island and culture, and serve as a legacy for future generations.

06/18/2026

Did you know that there was a maritime "Underground Railroad" in Washington Territory?

In September 1860, a Black teenager ran away from slavery in Olympia, Washington Territory. An African-Canadian network helped him flee to Victoria—but Charles Mitchell’s “underground railroad” was the steamer Eliza Anderson on Puget Sound.

On Thursday, June 25, 6:30PM at Lopez Center, come learn from historian Lorraine McConaghy about Charles Mitchell, his enslaver and surveyor general James Tilton, the African-Canadian community of Victoria, and Washington Territory on the eve of Civil War.

Speaker Bio:

Lorraine McConaghy earned her Ph.D. in history at the University of Washington in 1992, and has worked in public history as a museum historian since that time. Winner of the Robert Gray Medal, McConaghy’s research has emphasized the maritime Pacific Northwest, 1850-1870, although she is currently working on an encounter between an indigenous man and the crew of the USS DECATUR in the Strait of Magellan.

Photo One: Illustration of Charles Mitchell by artist R. Gregory Christie
Photo Two: "Eliza Anderson," steamboat, ca. 1880
Photo Three: Lorrain McConaghy

06/06/2026

Congrats and happy graduation Lopez students! Whether graduating from kindergarten (as pictured here in 1974), or high school (Mona Graham May 27, 1953) we wish you all the best from the Lopez Museum.

06/05/2026

We received this series of photos with no information about them, but we’re fairly sure they’re not from Lopez. Anyone recognize where these photos or where they’re from? Swipe to see each individually.

Orcas Island Historical Museums San Juan Historical Museum ?

05/29/2026

We are so thankful to Jean Perry of Vortex Café for donating this beautiful sign painted by Brenna Jael that hung in Vortex Juice Bar and Café for 26 years.

And to Billy Post-Vanderberg of Island Custom Woodworks for helping us repurpose one of the iconic Vortex bars, originally designed by boatbuilder Russ Levine, for our new welcome desk. Russ is the reason why Jean and her family moved to MacCauley Farm in 1993.

You can read the full Vortex origin story in our exhibit Making Hay While the Sun Shines: 50 Years of Restaurants on Lopez, 1950-2000. The Museum is open Wednesday-Sunday, 11:00AM-4:30PM, now through October.

05/22/2026

We are bringing back Our Ancestors Stories Cemetery Walk on Labor Day Weekend!

We're excited to announce our semi-annual collaboration with Lopez Union Cemetery will be back this Labor Day weekend. Join us Saturday evening 9/5 for a lecture on the San Juan Islands and the Civil War, and Sunday 9/6 for a tour of the lives and stories of the Civil War veterans who lived and are buried on Lopez.

If you are a descendant of one of the 25 Union soldiers who lived on Lopez, or are interested in researching a veteran and telling their story, please reach out to [email protected]

Charles Bartlett, James Bloor, John Boley, George Bolton, Taylor Brittendal, Charles Cantine, John Carle, Hamilton Carr, Oscar Perry Carr, Sampson Chadwick, Ezra Davison, Albert Dill, George Ham, James Hammond, George Johnson, Willard Johnson, Charles Kent, Peter Landin, Isaac Lichtenberg, Melvin Pierce, Levi Randall, George Richardson, Albion Ridley, John Sperry, Charles Stedelin, Loring Thompson, Franklin Troxell, and Lyman Weeks.

Photo One: John Sainor Carle. (2002.001.00942)
Photo Two: Mr. and Mrs. John Sperry. (1985.001.00212)
Photo Three: Loring F. Thompson. (2021.044.00072)
Photo Four: George Meder Johnson. (2002.001.00124)
Photo Five: Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton Carr. (1985.001.00338)
Photo Six: Peter Landin and Mrs. Carl Mueller, his niece, and her son, Edward. (1985.001.00410)
Photo Seven: Albert Dill. (1985.001.00364)
Photo Eight: James (Jim) Bloor. (1985.001.00322)

05/18/2026

It's International Museum Day!

We'd love to hear from you: what's your favorite thing about Lopez Museum?

Photo One: Little Thelma Wilson standing on stool next to telephone switchboard, c. 1920. The photo reads: "Yes this is Central." 1985.001.00277.
Photo Two: First Director of the Lopez Museum, Nancy McCoy at an antique switchboard inside the Museum. 2002.001.01358.

05/13/2026

The Museum will be CLOSED 5/16 in support of the Gathering of the Eagles (Esqalph etse Kwelengsen) 6th Annual Canoe Journey!

The Gathering of the Eagles calls people together from the Salish Sea region and beyond in a celebration of place, culture, and connection. This year we anticipate hosting 1 Lummi canoe family, 1 Puyallap canoe family from Chief Leschi Schools, and 2 Hawaiian canoe families.

Join us in welcoming the Journey, 1PM at Spencer Spit on Saturday, May 16. Then bring your favorite dish (and plates and utensils!) for a potluck 7PM at the Lopez Center.

11:30AM, Sunday, May 17, learn how to clam dig the Coast Salish way (non-tribal members need licenses - available at IMC!) at Spencer Spit. Then watch the documentary Last Stand: Saving the Elena River's Legacy forests, followed by a Q&A with Elizabeth Dunne and Gathering of the Eagles founder Freddie Lane (Lummi) at the Lopez Center. A potluck will follow for volunteers and friends of the canoe journey (bring a dish, plates, and utensils!)

The Journey continues onto San Juan and Orcas, May 18-22.

05/07/2026

Get ready for the next lecture in our Speakers' Series!

Help us welcome historian Lorraine McConaghy for her talk Olympia to Victoria: An Enslaved Boy's Voyage to Freedom on Thursday, June 25, 6:30PM at the Lopez Center.

Lorraine's talk is based on her book, FREE BOY, the biography of Charles Mitchell, an enslaved boy held in Olympia, Washington Territory. In 1860, Mitchell was recruited to the Puget Sound maritime “Underground Railroad” by a trio of African-Canadian men. His flight to freedom in Victoria on board the international mail steamer Eliza Anderson became an international incident, and the flashpoint for discussion of race in the antebellum territory.

Speaker bio:
Lorraine McConaghy earned the Ph.D. in history at the University of Washington in 1992, and has worked in public history as a museum historian since that time. Winner of the Robert Gray Medal, McConaghy’s research has emphasized the maritime Pacific Northwest, 1850-1870, although she is currently working on an encounter between an indigenous man and the crew of the USS DECATUR in the Strait of Magellan.

05/05/2026

Can’t help but giggle about this photo! Lopez Island Picnic - Bellingham. "Best Bald Heads", Lee Biggs, George Gallanger, Cliff Gawley.

05/03/2026

Thank you to everyone who contributed to GiveLopez this year! We raised just under $6000, which will help pay for materials for the front porch and new gutters. We are so grateful for everyone’s contributions, and those who have volunteered to help make it all happen!

And here is another fun photo of high school students at Port Stanley in 1939, when the school district was consolidated, but the new school wasn’t built yet. The district housed grades by age groups in the various schoolhouses, bussing the kids around the island. And imagine - there was no electricity in the schoolhouse!

In this photo: 1939, Mr. Hill & Mr. Gray, teachers. Front Row: 1. Clark Lovejoy, 2. Eldon Weeks, 3. Lawrence Wilson, 4. Art Kilpatrick, 5. Warren Townsend, 6. Bud Gallanger, 7. Garner McCauley, 8. Dallas Spencer, 9. Willard Lynn. 2nd Row: 1. Alma Coffelt, 2. Margaret Lampard, 3. Erma Coffelt, 4. Mary McLeod, 5. Alberta Peterson, 6. Winnie Gallanger, 7. Aletha Bosch, 8. Rhea (Marie) Lee, 9. Donald Fagerholm, 10. Charles Lampard, 11. Art Norman. 3rd Row: 1. Adele Richey, 2. Jean Tralnes, 3. Esther Tralnes, 4. Margie McCauley, 5. Johanna Neilsen, 6. Mary Lovejoy, 7. Alda Goodrow, 8. Edna Gaddis, 9. Willard Gray (teacher). 4th Row: 1. Aubrey Whitcomb, Jr., 2. Ona Jean Gallanger, Esther Weeks, 3. Millard Roberts, 4. Jim Hastin, 5. John Hill (teacher).

Address

28 Washburn Place/P. O. Box 163
Lopez Island, WA
98261

Opening Hours

Wednesday	11am - 4:30pm
Thursday	11am - 4:30pm
Friday	11am - 4:30pm
Saturday	11am - 4:30pm
Sunday	11am - 4:30pm

Telephone

(360) 468-2049

Website

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-iTXgFpNQwqeHfQetuiYLQ, http://lopezmuseum.org/, https://www.youtube.com/wat

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