Woodburn Historical Museum and Bungalow Theater

The biggest draw was the bison skeleton.

It is not hard to get us to check out local museums, and we had already visited the nearby Settlemier house, but now it was time to check out the museum.

A train display in the front window did catch our eye. Insistence on the necessity of a train was part of Jesse Settlemier's vision for the town, and instrumental to its early history.

That history included a lot of agriculture. 

While perhaps best known as the world's berry center, Woodburn also grew vegetables that were frozen for companies like Birds Eye. 

There is old equipment and packaging for that, and for work with hops and timber.

That affected the growth in population and culture of the town, and the people who came and their history is treated to.

As interesting as the history is, it was the pre-history that drew us.

Near Woodburn High School, there is an oxygen-free layer of much that has produced many well-preserved bones and plant remnants.

https://www.opb.org/news/article/bones-woodburn-oregon-school-paleontology/

While the bison may create the most impressive display, the smaller creatures and the bogberries tell more about what the area was like.

Plus it provides great experience for the students.

It has even produced a new species, the Teratornis woodburnensis.  

An extinct bird of prey similar to condors, the La Brea tar pits have produced more teratorns, but Oregon's is bigger.

Next door and connected is the historic Bungalow Theater.

Currently it has some memorabilia, but there are hopes it can be used for screenings and gatherings as well.

This is a new museum, with new programs forming under a brand new curator.

There are already impressive displays, including a collection of scrapbooks and some interactive activities.

It looks like it is on a great track.

COVID: Everything is indoors, including the route to the theater. Masking makes sense.

Accessibility: Navigation seems like it should be fine.

Something else I appreciated was that the signage (with QR codes) was all in English, Spanish, and Russian. As well as honoring their history, that accommodates many residents.

https://www.woodburn-or.gov/museum

Canby: Puddin' River Chocolates

We recently went to check out Puddin' River Chocolates in Canby.

We had not initially realized it was in a residential neighborhood, so passed by and needed to double back.

There are signs that it is a business.

The type of space may be part of why there a comparably small amount of retail display. That goes along with the boutique feel.

The pricing does as well, though there was seasonal clearance.

They do seem to enjoy the different seasons,

Part of the Oregon Farm Loop, the store's offerings celebrate Oregon's agricultural heritage.

(Technically, that is a collection of four loops: https://oregonfarmloop.com/) 

Part of what that means is that for almost everything with nuts, the nut in question is hazelnuts.

I found myself tempted by what I thought were some chocolate covered peanuts, but they were not.

With many event notifications and a track record of donations, Puddin' River seems like a a good member of the broader community as well as the farm community.

Even the name ties it in geographically.

COVID: It is a small shop, and while business was not heavy it seems steady. Masking is valuable in these situations.

Accessibility: The shop size could affect navigation, but you can also place orders through their web site. There may also be allergens related to tree nuts.

https://www.puddinriverchocolates.com/

Newberg: Hoover-Minthorn House Museum

Oregon has one presidential home, the Hover-Minthorn House in Newberg.

It is also the first presidential home dedicated during the president's lifetime, and the dedication was attended by Herbert Hoover himself.

Although born in Iowa, Hoover moved to Oregon to live with his uncle, Doctor John Minthon, at the age of eleven. He lived there until leaving for Stanford six years later.

Perhaps that is not as long as some residencies, but it was a fairly long residence for him, as his engineering career had him moving around a lot.

Those connections eventually led to him working on food relief during and after WWI.

His success here and progressiveness made him fairly popular, leading to his election as the 31st president of the United States in 1928.

Then, with the start of the Great Depression shortly thereafter, his popularity ended pretty quickly.

There are some reasons why that is fair, and others why it is less fair, but that's pretty normal.

The tour allows you to learn about a lot more besides Hoovervilles, though it might be somewhat overly slanted in his favor.

He did maintain friends in the area, leading to the purchase of the house and the creation of the museum.

The ownership was not uninterrupted, and the house did serve as a boarding house for a while, but it is still well-preserved.

There are more artifacts of the Minthorn family, but some personal effects of Hoover himself, including his fishing tackle.

It was an interesting tour, and an interesting part of local history.

COVID: The tour is mainly indoors, and while it is not exactly crowded, there was another couple on our tour, and new people coming in as we were leaving. I remained masked.

Accessibility: Although there is a handicapped parking spot in front of the house, there are steps to get in and stairs to the second story with no ramps or elevators in sight. While that is historically accurate, I do not see any attempts at accommodating it. 

https://www.hooverminthorn.org/