The Wallowa History Center is a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to increase public access to local history. We accomplish this mission through the collection and preservation of photos, diaries, maps, oral histories, manuscripts, and artifacts relevant to the history of Wallowa County, and then by digitizing, displaying, and disseminating these through our research library, our educational presentations and publications, our website and social media presence, and through our interpretive center.

Located in Wallowa, Oregon, in the historic U.S. Forest Service headquarters of the Bear-Sleds Ranger District, our research library houses over 4,000 physical documents and objects, while our interpretive center hosts rotating exhibits designed by our volunteer historians.

To receive e-mail announcements about our upcoming programs and events, join our mailing list or follow us on Facebook or Instagram!

Admission to our research library and interpretive center is free. We happily answer questions in person, by email, or by phone.

Since 2001, we have assisted hundreds of people with family research and genealogy, contributed to over twenty published books and research papers, partnered with local schools to support student projects, developed over 25 historical presentations and displays, published 50 issues of a quarterly magazine with stories and photos, and digitized several local historical newspapers dating back to 1868. 

We can help with…

• Genealogy and Family Research

• Historic Buildings

• Identifying People and Places in Old Photographs

• Academic Research

• Visiting Wallowa County

We can make physical copies of photographs, maps, and other documents for just the cost of the printing—and we can almost always provide digital copies for free.

Send us a message!

History Center members pay $20/year ($15/year for seniors) to receive four print issues of our Wallowa Quarterly magazine, produced by Bear Creek Press and featuring articles written by local historians.

Help us keep the lights on! We depend on monetary donations to fund our renovation projects, physical and digital exhibits, events, presentations, historic tours, and research library acquisitions — and every little bit helps. You can donate online, send a check, or reach out to volunteer. Thank you!

Our research library would not exist without your contributions.

We accept physical items such as pictures, postcards, letters, other documents, and some objects into our collection—but we can also scan or photograph your items and return the originals to you and your family, so you don’t have to worry about losing your only copy to a house fire or hail storm. We will always honor any conditions you place on the items you give us or let us digitize.

Have questions? Get in touch!

In the meantime, we’re hard at work digitizing all the existing items in our collection so we can share them with folks who can’t make it up to Wallowa County in person.

We are incredibly grateful to our members, donors, and community volunteers for their contributions, labor, and goodwill. We couldn’t do it without you.

The eight members of our History Center board are President David Weaver, Vice President Joseph Goebel, Secretary Jenny Hawkins, Treasurer Lisa Mahon and Directors Marilyn Hulse, Sally Goebel, and Jennifer Gibbs.

In 2022, we brought on Executive Director Sadie Kennedy.

We are eternally grateful to honorary members Mary Ann Burrows, Dale and Lu Johnson, Jack Goebel, Jo Bollman, Pearl Alice Marsh, Orvis Moore, and Edsel White.

In addition to our leadership team we could not do what we do without our volunteer Historians who meet bi-monthly at the center and graciously share their vast knowledge of this community.