Cannon Beach History Center and Museum

Specialties

The Cannon Beach History Center & Museum’s goal is preserve the history of Cannon Beach by seeking, collecting, and protecting historical artifacts and memorabilia of all kinds, by recording oral histories, and by making these materials available to the public whenever possible. The Museum hosts monthly concerts, free lectures, and the ever popular, Cottage & Garden Tour. The Museum also offers complimentary field trips to visiting schools from Astoria to Portland. Admission is FREE, but donations are gladly accepted.

History

Established in 1969.

The Cannon Beach Historical Society was originally founded in 1969. After many years of periods of inactivity followed by renewal, a group of former society members and others mounted a first-​class exhibit on the history of Cannon Beach in the Clatsop County Historical Society Heritage Museum in Astoria in 1988. Shortly after this, in 1990, the Cannon Beach Historical Society was once again revived. The collection and cataloging of historic artifacts and oral histories began in earnest, and the group commissioned the writing of the book «Cannon Beach: A Place by the Sea,» by Oregon historian Terence O’Donnell.

With a gift of land in 1995 and a successful capital campaign, the group started to construct the facility that now houses the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum in 1998. The building went through several phases of development through the years, culminating in the addition of a classroom, oral history studio, and artifact storage area in 2005. The Cannon Beach History Center