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COLLECTIONS
Our Collections
The Kittitas County Historical Museum continues to collect, preserve, and share the history, heritage, and culture of Kittitas County.
Since 1961, we have received more than 30,000 items relating to our collective history, telling stories of its people, places, events, and activities.
The collection contains a wide array of physical items ranging from our local Indigenous culture to rocks and minerals, to thousands of photographs and archival items, and much more. We continue collecting items that reflect our ever-changing community, and items from our distant past to the present, as history is made every moment that passes.
Collection strengths represent local Indigenous cultural items (especially that of the K’ti’tas and Pshwánapam bands of Indigenous people), antique automobiles, geological specimens, textiles, household goods and furnishings, military ephemera, historic photographs, agricultural tools, and business history including neon signs.
Viewing the Collections
Visitors to the Kittitas County Historical Museum will see many of the items in our permanent collection on display with the 50+ different exhibits and displays.
We frequently rotate items on displays which allows for exhibit (and interest) changes but also in order to ensure the proper preservation and museum care for each item. When the item is rotated into storage, we review its condition, doing our best to provide the appropriate care for it according to the best practices and standards for museums, and update our records and information on the item.
Donating an object
The Kittitas County Historical Museum seeks to uphold its Mission by collecting and preserving materials, which may help establish, illustrate, and educate about the history of Kittitas County.
The Donation Process
We request that any individual, family, organization, or business interested in donating an item for the Museum’s permanent collection, please contact us with as much information about item(s) as possible and as well known. This may include item history, item use, family history, etc., and photographs as well. We do not recommend bringing the item(s) into the Museum as we have limited storage space to store items that we are not certain will go into the Museum’s permanent collections.
Please note as well: there is no guarantee of acceptance by the Museum for any item(s) intended for donation; and there is no guarantee that any item(s) accepted for the permanent collections will be displayed at any given time.
Items can also be accepted through bequests (through a will/estate), but we appreciate the opportunity to work with a donor before the gift is being made. If you are interested in including the Museum as a recipient in your will/estate, please contact us for more information.
For those interested in just providing a digital copy of their items to the Museum collection and retaining the original, Museum Staff would be happy to assist. Depending on the nature of donation and condition of original material, scanning processes may take quite some time to accomplish, and a use agreement will need to be established (also conditional to copyright ownership and use conveyance).
If you are interested in donating an item, whether at present or in the future, please contact us.
We are also seeking onsite volunteers to help process items that have been received. To learn more about volunteering and how to get involved, please click here.
