Northwest Carriage Museum

05/14/2025

Imagine, you are out in the old west on a cattle drive. Your last bath was the Colorado River, and that was weeks ago. Your fellow cattlemen are starting to complain about the smell, as if they are ones to talk, and it is time to freshen up. Where do you go? The chuck wagon houses all your cleaning needs. Don't forget the soap! Need to shave? There is a sink, mirror, razors, shaving cream, and a barrel of water just for that. A tub and washboard are also waiting to take care of those dusty old clothes. Got to love this horse-drawn home away from home! Come get carried away and check out our very own chuck wagon with all the trimmings! Open every day from 10am to 4pm! We love keeping history alive!

05/13/2025

May is Museum Month in Pacific County! We invite you to come explore the Northwest Carriage Museum this month and enter to win our raffle basket, including $80 of value! We are also offering $1 off admission and 10% off our gift shop all month long, so there's no better time to visit our 64 vehicles and thousands of artifacts! Come Get Carried Away!

Plan to visit the other 10 museums in Pacific County for Museum Month too! Get your passport stamped and enter to win a raffle basket with something from all the museums! https://www.evergreencoastwa.com/museum-month-2024/for more information!

05/12/2025

Here we have a Major Staypulton "putting to" or preparing his phaeton for a drive. Phaetons, just like our very own spider phaeton, were a luxury vehicle usually driven by their affluent owners for the purposes of joy riding or courting. A small seat can be found on the very back of the vehicle where the footman would usually sit, accompanying his Lordship on these rides so as to be of assistance with the horses and vehicle. When out courting, this seat would be taken up by the ever-watchful chaperone. What plans do you think Major Staypulton has for this drive? Joy riding or courting? Come get carried away!

05/11/2025

Happy Mother's Day from the Northwest Carriage Museum! Still need a gift for Mom? Get her a bouquet of history that won't wilt, a visit to see our amazing collection of 64 horse drawn vehicles and thousands of artifacts! Looking for a more physical gift? Check out our gift shop, we have something for everyone! Come Get Carried Away and celebrate Mother's Day by immersing yourself in history! Open Daily 10-4pm!

05/10/2025

Did you know there are hundreds of different kinds of horse-drawn vehicles? Arthur Ingram's "Horse-Drawn Vehicles since 1760" lists 325 different styles! Horse Drawn vehicles were used for many purposes and different styles suited different people. It's remarkable how many there were to choose from! Looking for a carriage book of your own? We have a collection in our gift shop! At the Northwest Carriage Museum, dozens of styles are represented so Come Get Carried Away! Open Daily 10-4pm!

05/09/2025

Thanks to folks from Woodland Village in Chehalis for visiting today! We love tours! Have you scheduled yours?
Open daily 10-4pm
Come get carried away!

05/09/2025

Did you know our elegant Kimball Town Coach has a connection to Weyerhaeuser? Come find out the history of this beautiful vehicle from the 1890's and how it ended in our collection! We appreciate the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) who donated it to us in 2013. We love keeping history alive!! Come Get Carried Away, learn about the Kimball Town Coach and 63 other horse-drawn vehicles! Open every day from 10 am to 4 pm!

05/08/2025

One of the many highlights of our museum is our interactive wheelwright shop and fine collection of wheelwright and carriage makers tools! Come get carried away and learn all about the fascinating world of 19th and early 20th century horse-drawn transportation and vehicle manufacturing! We love keeping history alive! Open every day from 10 am to 4 pm!

05/07/2025

This painting by George William Joy from 1895 will forever be one of our favorite depictions of riding inside a horse-drawn omnibus. Notice the handrail on the ceiling for standing passengers to hold. You would be surprised by the number of people that would squeeze in there! Especially on the knife-board omnibuses where passengers could set on the roof. Not quite a double-decker vehicle yet but getting close. Come get carried away with our own omnibus and other public transportation vehicles that can be found in our collection. We love keeping history alive!

05/06/2025

Come get carried away with 64 beautifully restored and/or conserved horse-drawn vehicles, all originally from the 19th and early 20th century! This fabulous collection of vehicles, many historical artifacts, and interactive exhibits really does bring the history of horse-drawn transportation to life! Open every day from 10am to 4pm!

05/05/2025

Happy Cinco De Mayo! This holiday celebrates the Mexican victory over the French during the Battle of Puebla in 1862! Here at the Northwest Carriage Museum, we love relating it to horse-drawn vehicles though, so did you know that horse drawn railways were common and some still operate today throughout Mexico? In the Yucatan at one point, there were over 1,900 miles of horse railway networks! These were used to transport cargo, mainly crops, around Mexico up until their decline in the early 1900s, though some still operate.
Come get carried away, open daily 10-4pm

05/04/2025

Heading to South Bend? Hitch up your horses and take advantage of your SYC&S discounts! Members of the Northwest Carriage Museum receive 15% off at Cascadia Computers visit them for any and all technology issues and questions! Craving seafood? South Bend Products Retail offers a variety of choices, and museum members receive $5 off a purchase of $100 or more at South Bend Products Retail!

Enjoy these discounts and 44 more by becoming a member of the Northwest Carriage Museum! Open Daily 10-4pm Come get carried away!

05/03/2025

Bring your teacher and educator friends to the Northwest Carriage Museum to check out our interactive schoolhouse exhibit!They will get a kick out of the rules and responsibilities teachers had to keep to in the 19th and early 20th century. Quite mind-boggling! Of course, we can't overlook the list of punishments kids could expect for misbehaving at school. Those will keep any kid wary of naughty things like climbing trees!

05/02/2025

You may have heard us talk about how our vehicles are dated to the 19th and early 20th century which was a long transition period for horse-drawn vehicles and automobiles, or the first horseless-carriages. Absolutely true, it was a very steampunk era if you will. Here is another hilarious print depicting a horse-drawn coach (or stage) and steam-powered coach being used to represent the old and new. This "political drama" or "the old and new stages" or "steam speed against a mile an hour" cartoon is a print where a steam coach belonging to the Whig Radicals are racing and winning against the Tories' coach and four, driven by the Duke of Wellington. We love keeping history alive!

05/01/2025

Thank you to those who stopped by yesterday afternoon! Had so much fun, forgot to take pictures!
Cheers and thanks to all our members! We appreciate you!

05/01/2025

Welcome May and Museum Month in Pacific County! Journey around to the 11 participating museums! Check out any discounts and special events to celebrate the importance of museums to our community! Please join us and celebrate Musuem Month! Open Daily 10-4pm!

For more information, check out https://www.evergreencoastwa.com/museum-month-2024/

05/01/2025

Great history from our friends at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum!

From 1882 to 1886, John Morehead drove the stagecoach between Oysterville and Ilwaco. This reminiscence was published in the Ilwaco Tribune, August 8, 1952.

"Page after page has been written about the exploits and adventures of the old stage drivers of the mountains and plains, but one of those spectacular drivers would have had an experience he never dreamed of had he found himself on the weather beach with a heavy load of passengers, two or three hours before daylight in the morning with an eighty-mile gale blowing the cutting sand into his face and a ten-foot tide shooting drift logs past his horses on top of swells that could only be kept out of the stage by careful and watchful driving.

Their task was easy compared with that of the ocean beach driver who, three times a week, was obliged to get out of bed at the unholy hours of two o'clock in the morning, go to the barn and feed, groom and harness his horses, eat his breakfast, hitch up and drive about the town and out on the oysterbeds, gathering up his load to leave the hotel door promptly at four o'clock.

All this was done by the light of a smoky lantern, and very often in a driving storm. As the steamer awaited the return of the stage to Oysterville, and another was waiting at Ilwaco, he was hurried at every point of his trip.

However, three mornings in the week he could sleep until the late hour of four in the morning when only local mail and passengers were carried. On these days heavy loads of freight were taken, oysters out of Oysterville, and general freight from Ilwaco and all points on Shoalwater Bay, and as far as Grays Harbor.

Looking back over the old stage books, it is noted that this incoming freight was made up largely of beer, and saloon supplies. They had the right of way over luxuries such as flour and bacon. The books also show the names of most of the old pioneers as they traveled by stage.

The lot of the old stage driver was a particularly hard one. His days were long, often more than sixteen hours, and their responsibility was great. He had no assistance in loading and unloading those heavy trunks and articles of freight. He must account for every passenger, every piece of baggage, and every pound of freight carried by both the stage and freight wagons, collect all bills and be on the job seven days a week. He had no holidays or vacations, nor anyone to make the trip for him if he felt indisposed. That mail must go, and to the credit of the drivers, it was never known to miss a trip.

While the driver may have thought his task somewhat strenuous, it was not to be compared with that of those horses that were obliged to do this work. The driver could quit his job at any time, but the horse well knew that the moment they slackened up on those traces, that four lash would be swung across their bodies by one whose job depended on his willingness and ability to swing it. There was one horse on this line that was driven continuously for six years. In that time she traveled more than thirty thousand miles, often dragging a load more than the weight of her own body." (sic)

CPHM Photo Collection: Ilwaco to Oysterville Stage, L-R: Frank Butterfield, W.J. Higgins, Unknown, Lincoln Siminson, Dr. Wiswell, Oysterville, WA, c1885.

CPHM is open Wednesday - Saturday, 10 am - 4 pm.
Admission is FREE, thanks to the Port of Ilwaco and our Rising Tide Members.

04/30/2025

Looking for a way to donate to your favorite nonprofit? Check out Washington Gives, an online giving platform that makes it easy to have ! Even the smallest donation can help us keep history alive at the Northwest Carriage Museum so on May 6-7 or make an early donation today! Come Get Carried Away!

Go to https://www.wagives.org/organization/Northwest-Carriage-Museum to donate!

For more information, see https://www.wagives.org/

04/29/2025

Come get carried away among our amazing collection of horse-drawn vehicles and artifacts and check out the gift shop! Looking for postcards (yes, we have them!) or need to grab a gift for someone special? Look no further! Our gift shop has all kinds of unique gifts, including books, jewelry, old fashioned toys and so much more! Members get 10% off!

04/28/2025

Did you know that May is Museum month in Pacific County?! A great time to visit all 11 Pacific County Museums! Grab a passport and enjoy special discounts and happenings at individual museums!
Come get carried away with us and enjoy $1 off admission, 10% in our gift, and enter to win our raffle basket!

04/27/2025

What is this? Come get carried away and discover more fascinating artifacts from the era of horse-drawn transportation! Open every day from 10am to 4pm! Our incredible collection of 64 vintage horse-drawn vehicles and artifacts that really bring history to life!

04/26/2025

Members, we look forward to seeing you this Wednesday, April 30th from 4-6pm! We appreciate you!
Not a member? It's a great time to join! Come get carried away...

04/25/2025

Looking to get to the beach this weekend for the Long Beach Razor Clam Festival? Did you know that the SYC&S program reaches to Long Beach and Ilwaco? Grab some grub at B & D's Food Hut before you hit the water! Need a cute beach accessory? Members get a free silver charm at Long Beach Merchants Assn! Looking for some gear for your next fishing trip? Spawn Fly Fish has you covered. If you want to end your day with a sweet treat (or a savory one), Coastal Class Crepes has some delicious fare! Members receive discounts at all these businesses and 42 others, so grab your membership before you head to the Long Beach Razor Clam Festival!

04/24/2025

Happy National Volunteer Week! We'd like to thank all of our board members and volunteers (past and present) who support the Northwest Carriage Museum because they believe in our mission of keeping history alive! We appreciate all their time and efforts. So this week and always, we send our gratitude to all our supporters! Open Daily 10-4pm! Come Get Carried Away!

04/23/2025

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind having the grocery store roll up to my front door. Grocery carts or produce wagons, like the colorful vehicle in our collection, would bring produce and other food goods right to your neighborhood or local market. Still allowing you the satisfaction of picking out your own produce without having to travel out as far, or rely on a second party to select what oranges you get for you. I mean it's nice and all but there is an art to selecting the perfect orange. Come get carried away with our fabulous produce wagon and many other wondeful horse-drawn vehicles every day from 10am to 4pm! We love keeping history alive!

04/22/2025

Happy Earth Day! Horse drawn vehicles make our world go round, we have 64 for you to see! We love keeping history alive, come get carried away! Open daily 10-4pm.

04/21/2025

Please allow me to introduce you to our lovely Dutch Opera Coach! So exquisite! Come get carried away every day from 10am to 4pm and discover the rest of our 64 original horse-drawn vehicle collection!

04/20/2025

🌸Happy Easter!🌸
Looking for something fun to do today? We are open 10-4 pm!
Come get carried away!

04/19/2025

It's Easter Weekend and we are looking back at the ever-famous Easter parade on 5th Avenue that got its start in the extravagance of the Gilded Age (1870-1900). A simple stroll or carriage ride on Easter morning became one of the most anticipated social events of the season where the goal was to be seen and to be the most fashionable among members of the increasingly growing upper-class. Never underestimate the importance of an attention-grabbing Easter bonnet! This event was also annually ridiculed and criticized by satirical magazines such as "Puck" and other media outlets for its ongoing excess while the economic gap between the rich and poor only widened. Come see vintage horse-drawn vehicles and clothing pieces (definitely check out the top hats and ladies' head pieces) that one might have seen in the Easter parade! Open every day from 10 to 4! We love keeping history alive!

04/18/2025

Join us tonight to celebrate the brave ride of Paul Revere and the beginning of America's 250th Birthday! We will be displaying 2 lanterns in our barn windows tonight to celebrate the spirit of American perseverance and community. We encourage everyone to join us. We love keeping history alive, open daily 10-4pm.

04/17/2025

Who knows what this is and why it is the way that it is? And why does Old Sam here never likes to be without it? Just curious. If you know you know 😉

04/16/2025

Planning your day? Here's some ideas that have you shopping local and saving big with your museum membership card! Thanks for being a member, supporting small businesses, and keeping history alive!
Hungry Heifer Diner
7th Street Coffee
Goose Point Oysters
Willapa Outdoor
South Bend Pharmacy
Steam Donkey Brewing Company

04/15/2025

The Northwest Carriage Museum is excited to participate in Two Lights for Tomorrow, a nationwide initiative to kick off the celebration of America’s 250th birthday. Paul Revere and other brave countrymen set a signal in the Old North Church, two lanterns, to alert the region that the British Army were approaching by sea, marking the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. This signal has become an enduring symbol of American unity and perseverance, exemplifying the spirit of community and shared responsibility that has defined our nation since its inception. This year, the Northwest Carriage Museum invites the members of the community to join people across the nation to again use this symbol and share the importance of supporting each other and serving our communities by hanging two lights in their own windows on the evening of April 18, 2025.

04/15/2025

We appreciate the shout-out from Washington's Evergreen Coast
Come get carried away! May is Museum Month in Pacific County!

04/14/2025

Amongst our fabulous collection of 64 vintage horse-drawn vehicles and many many historical artifacts you will find some of our most popular artifacts with museum goers... the hats. We have tops hats, bowler hats, "cowboy" hats (there might be a Stetson in there somewhere) and we haven't even gotten started on the assortment of ladies' hats. Y'all really love these hats. I get it though, they are quite stylish. How many hats are in our collection? Could you find them all? Come get carried away every day from 10 to 4!

04/13/2025

Pop Quiz! Just kidding. Not really. Don't worry, it will be fun! Time to see who has been paying attention. What can you tell us about this vehicle? Can you name the spring system used? Is there anything interesting about the way people are seated in the vehicle? What can you tell us about who is driving the vehicle? Who wants to take a guess?

04/12/2025

If you are in need of a relaxing Spring Day, we at the Northwest Carriage Museum have a few recommendations. Looking to get back in touch with nature as it blooms? Check out Bay Center KOA for an amazing camping experience and SYC&S in their gift shop! Want an activity to enjoy while the Sun is shining? Head on down to Riverwoods Golf & RV! Looking to relax and enjoy the rolling hills of the Willapa? Check out Woohoo Winery! As museum members you get discounts at all of these businesses, so don't wait, support local today! Thank you for your membership!
Riverwoods RV Park WooHoo Winery Bay Center / Willapa Bay KOA Journey

04/11/2025

We love keeping history alive with 64 fabulous horse-drawn vehicles and over a thousand historical artifacts all from the 19th and early 20th century! Our vintage clothing pieces are always a crowd favorite! Come get carried away! Open Daily 10am to 4pm!

04/10/2025

The Combination Buggy or Turn-Under Seat Trap was made by C. H. Stratton Carriage Co. and was known as the "new century carriage" because of its "high-tech" design and customizability. This vehicle was designed to be converted into six different layouts! Six! With the back seat folded under the front this vehicle became a Runabout. With the back seat out, it was a Trap. With an added folding top this vehicle turned into a Top Buggy! Other fittings would convert this vehicle into a Rockaway, a Surrey, or a Clash Top Trap! Want to customize your vehicle even further? This vehicle was regularly sold "in the white" or unpainted by local dealers so that the vehicle could then be finished to the customer's wishes. Come get carried away and see this vehicle along with 63 other original horse-drawn vehicles! We love keeping history alive!

04/09/2025

Today we have traffic lights and stop signs, but back in the days of horse-drawn vehicles (this is 1900) they had traffic stops with officers directing traffic. Pay attention to the man waving about with the bright white gloves! His word, or movement, was law! Come get carried away and learn more about the fascinating world of 19th and early 20th century horse-drawn transportation every day from 10 to 4! We love keeping history alive!