Reviews of Oregon Historical Society Museum (Museum)

Ilias Lawson

Fun for the family, or one's self. History is always a good thing to learn.

Penny Lutterman

On our vacation we went here and very nice but had areas closed off so could not see all.

Rosie/Jeremy lohr

Nice culture

Tammy LeRoy

Great

Eduardo Foss

So great! A must see! Get to know your city and region!! The section on gentrification is surprising clear eyed, w multiple perspectives.

Serena Uible

Well there are some interesting things here. Not very many. Spent about 40 minutes - 10 minutes were pretty interesting. Kinda. Shrug. Not my thing.

Susan Mahon

Interesting exhibits on OSU and black history in Portland.

Stephen Burtis

I had a great time sitting on the bench outside!!!

Larry Cutler

Experience Oregon Exhibit- 2 thumbs up!

rod mason

Great spot. Now under construction.

David Abrahamson

The museum would be more appropriately named the "Oregon Racism Museum". Doing so would properly frame the nature of the exhibits, which deal pretty comprehensively with the role that discrimination played in Oregon's history. What is absent, however, is a more general and constructive treatment of the state's varied background. An example of the museum's focus is the long video about how the construction of the dam that submerged Celilo falls impacted the Indian tribe that had fished there for generations. But there is no information on the dam itself, why the authorities chose to devote enormous resources to its constructions, how the clean energy that it generates is even more relevant today, and other considerations. In summary, the visitor walks away from the museum better informed about some of the state's racist warts, but no more educated about the state's innumerable other historical facets than when they walked in.

Jason Howard

This place was awesome, albeit I was there for a special event. Walked through the exhibits and they were pretty cool. I will totally go back.

Chris Karlin

Really excellent permanent collection and the Kennedy Exhibit was super interesting.

B Bayat

Not the type of museum one would expect. It's exhibits are limited and not very global. Mostly local nostalgia

Marc Delpech

Very interesting JFK exhibit.

Qiuren Wang

I hardly give 3 stars, which means just okay. Actually I don't recommend to visit here before the 3rd floor open. The only two floors don't meet my expectations.

John Andersen

I think the Experience Oregon exhibit hits it out of the park. Well done. I went there today for the first time, and it is clear I will need to go back at least 10 times to really absorb it all. This is without question, the best permanent exhibit I have seen at OHS in over 20 years.

Jerrad Bracamonte

Oregon history is fraught with racism and this museum addresses those issues very well.

Tim Tankard

The little museum that tries harder. The permanent exhibits are fairly minor but well dons and comprehensive but they go above and beyond with their special shows. Free to Multnomah residents it's a perfect place to bring visitors.

OTTO PAPASADERO

Well worth a visit anytime.

Chinwei Hu

Informative content that covers a wide variety or modern Oregon cultures

Lolita Albers

Delightful experience. The museum is bigger than I thought, with lots of interactive displays. You will come away knowing a lot more about Oregon history then you realized was possible.

Mago Sandoval

(Translated by Google) It is an excellent place to learn (Original) Es un lugar excelente para aprender

Carolyn Migotti

Great place

Ray Bartley

We enjoy their exhibits. Lots of info about my native state and hometown of Portland.

Adam Zaremba

Excellent place to learn a bit about Oregon. Nice staff, interesting exhibits. We will definitely be back to see more!

Ray Lucero

Small exhibit but still quite wonderful! Go back in time to the early 60's and see the impact by "The Beatles British Invasion" that took U.S. by storm. Limited engagement closes November 12th, 2019 so don't miss it.

Anne-Claire Weil

Very pleasant time I will come back tomorrow because there are a lot of things to learn and see I went to the Beattles exhibitions which was nice as well the lady at this entrance was really sweet and welcoming smiling ! So pleasant to seize the afternoon there

Alex Hazlewood

Co

Chris Bailey

Friendly staff, we were there during renovation of the main exhibit so we did not get the entire experience. The exhibits that were open provided us with insight in Oregon's history which us east coasters had no idea about.

Krys W

So many wonderful things to see. So many lovely quotes to read. Better than I can even rate.

Richard Samuels

Disappointing. Much of it is closed for construction.

Arianne Paroly

This museum has plenty of diverse exhibits, about half of which are directly related to Oregon history. The setup is pretty convoluted, but wandering around is half the fun.

Janette Daniels

Definitely coming back, had alot of fun! Such a pleasant place

Cheryl Allmen

Quilt exhibit was lovely

Errhka

Really great place to stop by if you want to learn about the history of Oregon. Well designed exhibits that are very interesting. When we were here they had an exhibition on Kennedy. In the words of our greeter: "the connections to Oregon are...vague" but it was still fun to learn about all the same. Good way to spend an hour or two and they've got a nice gift store as well. We parked on the street right outside and paid at the meter

David Arias

Visited here with my kids to look for any historic photos of our house. We didn't find any but certainly had fun seeing pictures of our neighborhood! The staff were super kind and helpful. Thank you!

Debbie Beal

Great place well worth the money.

Haley Huckins

Always informative, concise exhibits. There's usually something new and the gift shop is always fun to peruse. This time I got to learn about the history of the Oregon Humane society, and of beer. Both quite fascinating.

Brad Hyra

Enjoyed the museum, a bit political for my taste.

Leah Goeres

I had a free ticket and went with a friend. It was a Saturday (Smithsonian Saturday), so busier than usual. Honestly, it was boring. The guy at the front desk was rude and slow. He looked like he needed some extra help/support but he was all by himself. The Kennedy exhibit didn't adequately cover his assassination, which is the most interesting part.

A Baby's Breath Corporate

Nice local civil rights section.

Steve Gramstad

Wonderful experience in a beautiful setting

Herb Hillenmeyer

We saw Peter and the Wolf children's concert, and it was a good ever. Highly recommend.

Steve Jones

Enjoyed Kennedy exhibit

Alan Campbell

Attended lunar new year's event. Fun event, and free too boot.

Lance McNulty

Lots of great exhibits. Knowledgeable staff here. Great way to spend a rainy day

Sirhc Lettoc

Some interesting stuff. Could be cooler

Peter Howells

An interesting museum if you are interested in the history of the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and Portland. A great exhibit on the native American presence and the timeline of the European people in the area that is only a couple of centuries old. Several special exhibits: one on Oregon State University and another on the early days of bird photography in Oregon.

Heather Zarour

Very nice exhibits

Dillon Carlos

Despite part of the exhibit being closed for enhancements, this was a wonderful museum to visit. The top floor timeline of Oregon history is especially well curated. We got discount admission due to the partial closure, but we felt more than happy with our $5 purchase!

Sasha Bassett

Rad and inexpensive museum. Cool if you're into local history.

Maleck Seda

Much smaller than I expected; what they have is well done.

Sing PaPa

Fun to see and fun to learn... must see at lease one.

Jason Shaver

A great museum.

Ruben Hernandez

This place is huge. The pieces of Oregon history were amazing.

dj shimon

Free entry if you live in Multnomah

Soxna Dice

Half is closed for construction. :(

Pankaj Varma

Interesting history

Blanca Alonso

En general toda la ciudad de Portland me pareció maravillosa.Hace pocos días que he llegado aquí y todo me ha gustado.Desde su amable población hasta sus grandes edificios señoriales,pasando por sus bellos parques y exquisita gastronomía . El museo completó esta idea brindando el conocimiento profundo de sus orígenes,leyendas e historia, también sumamente interesantes. Espero seguir caminando por estas calles que a cada paso,sorprenden gratamente. Welcome to Portland !!!

Nira Sanghvi

It's a great place to visit. Had a lot of amazing exhibits.

Anonymous8089

This place is great and the kids were entertained as well!

Rich Hernandez

Very nice displays showing different time periods of Oregon's habitation.

Tara Brooks-Stockton

Good place to bring kids, available parking.

Charlena Watson

It's nice

Lucinda Bailey

It was interesting and nice to see. I enjoyed my visit.

Don Boland

Third floor worth the visit.

Matthew Bader

Free museums are always lovely, but they could definitely do more and better here. Some "exhibits" consist of a few desultory and disordered roll-up posters in makeshift hallway spaces. Hopefully they'll improve.

Tara Tynan-westphal

Cool little museum to spend a couple hours, with 3 floors of exhibits, including the newest "Experience Oregon." The hands-on area is geared more towards children around 7 years or older, but our little one enjoyed walking around seeing the sights for a bit, too.

Char Pennie

Great Beatle memoriability

Nancy Manus

Fun seeing the Beatles exhibit

David Byczek

Really great place for visitors to learn a little about Oregon. They had an excellent exhibit featuring the struggle for black equality.

Daniel Fajardo

great place to learn historic preservation

Leanne Kelley

Not enough about people, who developed Portland. Need to put in a display about Chinatown. Tell on the brothels, opium dens, Shanghai alleys. About the super wealthy and how they lived. This place was super boring.

James Dickson

Small hopefully remodel will add more.

Toby Harrison

Great place for kids, lots of local information.

Duane Hoffinger

Our first visit and definitely won't be our last. Really great museum filled with Oregon history

Lincoln Asl

This place has a ton of information on a variety of topics related to Oregon. It was somewhere I'd like to go back to and visit again when I have more time. I recommend going for learning &/or nostalgia.

J A

Excellent selection of materials in the research area upstairs. Very helpful and useful advice on all sorts of subject matter. Most exhibits are fantastic but some can be a bit too specific on subject matters that are only of interest to certain types of people (like the whole beer theme they did).

ruby bailey

“Great overview of Oregon history” The permanent exhibit covering the history of Oregon is quite well done. They also have numerous changing exhibits. Although it is not the largest museum, it is worth visiting.

R. Lee Donaldson

This was not a very large museum, but a very educational and interesting place to visit to learn about Oregon and it's history from various times. There were a good number of well displayed exhibits with lots of great facts and information to immerse yourself in this great State's history. We were lucky and arrived on a Saturday Family day, so the entry was free. It is always nice to visit someplace for free, but if you don't make it on such a day, they do offer a number of discounts including a AAA discount if you have your card. Start from the 3rd floor and work your way down. The 3rd. floor is where you will find most of the historical stuff. Lots of well preserved artifacts from time past and great information behind them to really educate yourself with. The second floor which is their main entrance area contains special exhibits. At the time we visited, there was a beer, Beatles, and a historical exhibit from a local high school I think. The Beatles exhibit was fun with lots of memorabilia from the bands heydays. The beer exhibit had a few interesting things, but was in such a large space seemed to make it look very small and lacking something. The first floor or what seemed like a basement depending on the side of the building it was on, contained art and photos as well as an interactive area for children. This was nice visit and was glad we went.