Permanent Exhibits

The history of Wenatchee and East Wenatchee comes alive in this new permanent exhibit at the far end of the museum’s second floor. Photographs, text panels, costumed manikins and artifacts from the museum’s collection illustrate the first settling of the area, pioneer wheat farms and orchards, steamboat and railroad, early community leaders, medicine, and treasures…

Coyote’s Corner is a hands-on children’s activity area with self-guided art projects and interactive learning. Phase one of our remodel project has been completed which includes an expanded space, new stairs, paint and cabinets. Subscribe to our email-newsletter to stay up-to-date. Coyote’s Corner is open Tuesday – Saturday 10 AM to 4 PM. Click to download our Coyote…

From the earliest days of settlement, Wenatchee’s future depended on transportation in and out of the valley. The Great Northern Railway arrived in 1892, connecting the Wenatchee Valley to the rest of the U.S. Our coin-operated HO-gauge diorama re-creates several historic routes over the Cascade Mountains and sends a model train chugging along the tracks,…

This WPA (Works Progress Administration) mural created in 1939 by Peggy Strong is original to the Museum building when it was first built as a Post Office. It depicts the history of the postal service in the region and belongs to the people of the USA. It is is catalogued by the Smithsonian.

“Trade, Tradition and Change” explores how American Indian groups of the Columbia Plateau interacted with each other and the outside world, and how that interaction affected their traditions. Petroglyphs from Rock Island, photographs, trade goods, food items, and beadwork are highlighted features.

Celebrating the history of Wenatchee Apple Blossom Festivals from 1920 to the present, this exhibit displays formal portraits of Apple Blossom Royalty. See how hair and clothing styles have changed over the years in this fascinating look at more than 90 years of pageantry!

This exhibit illustrates the “golden age of flight” with aviation pioneer, and North Central Washington native, Clyde Pangborn. Photographs and artifacts celebrate Pangborn’s life and career, including his record-setting adventure in 1931 when he and partner Hugh Herndon completed the first non-stop, trans-Pacific flight from Sabishiro Beach, Japan to Wenatchee, Washington. The bent propeller from…

This exhibit explores the 11,000-year-old Clovis culture, with special attention to a Clovis site discovered in East Wenatchee in 1987. Five of the large points from that excavation are on display as well as scientific casts showing the variety of magnificent stone knives, scrapers, and bone tools that were recovered from the site. Learn about…

This beautiful, fully operational 1919 Wurlitzer pipe organ from a local movie theater was restored and installed in the Museum’s performance center in 1989. Curtains behind the organ open to view the full installation, featuring pipes and a variety of operational musical instruments used to add sound effects to organ accompaniments.  

How did Wenatchee become the “Apple Capital of the World?” Our full-scale apple industry exhibit tells the story. It is located downstairs, below the “Our People, Our Place” exhibit, and includes a 1920s-era apple sorting line where apples were catapulted into the air to land in canvas bins. Photographs, short videos and text illustrate all aspects of…