Roofing project is under way!

This summer the Benton County Museum will have a new cedar roof! The new historically accurate roof treatment is the most recent endeavor by Benton County Historical Society to preserve the community icon that houses Society offices, museum exhibitions and the Moreland Auditorium. The Philomath College building was built in 1867 with additions dating to 1905 and 1907. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The work began on July 25, 2011, supervised by Allen Nelson, ReConstruction, Inc. of Albany, Oregon, who has performed cupola and window preservation work on the building.

The Society received a timely estate gift in November 2010, which ensures the completion of the project. The Society also received $7,500 from the Kinsman Foundation to help pay for the roof replacement.

Cemeteries of Benton County, Oregon

We have combined historical and contemporary photos from our museum archive with brief descriptions from the "Benton County Cultural Resources Inventory" and GoogleMaps technology to create a unique interactive map of Benton County cemeteries. We hope this will be interesting and useful for researchers and museum visitors.

Special thanks go to Susan Christie for her technological skills, editing abilities, and perseverance!

Online at http://www.bentoncountymuseum.org/googlemaps/cemeteries.cfm.

If you find any inaccuracies, please let us know (Mark at 541.929.6230 x306) so that we can perfect this project.



Please respect private property. Many of the resources included on this map are private property and are not open to the public; others are accessible by appointment only.

Samplers International: a world of needlework

We’re enjoying great success with our current exhibition called "Samplers International: A world of needlework", which showcases historical and contemporary samplers from United States, Mexico, England, Scotland, France, and Scandinavia that were stitched between 1747 and 2011.

“Samplers International” may be viewed in the 2,400 square foot Moreland Auditorium at the Benton County Museum through April 30, 2011. On display are more than seventy unique needlework samplers, on loan from museums and individuals across the United States. Most of the samplers have never before been exhibited. A printed catalog and web page at bentoncountymuseum.org will document the exhibition.

Historic schoolgirl samplers are from the collections of the Benton County Museum, Bush House Museum, Seaside Museum, Lynne Anderson, Nancy Tonkin, Be Davison Herrera, Queenstown Sampler Designs, and other members of the Sampler Consortium. Contemporary samplers were stitched by Walter Frankel, Kimberly Hart, Freda Merrick Herendeen, Be Davison Herrera, Judy Juntunen, Kristen McHuron-Guss, Leone Bowman Nicholson, Susan Patterson, Judith Roberts, Karen Skjei, Joyce Skogen, Frances Stilwell, Amelia Tolonen, Freda Vars, and Merrie Ziady.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 – 4:30. Admission is always free!

2011 Benton Lecture Series

Group art exhibition at Benton County Museum through Jan. 8, 2011

2010 Philomath Open Studios Artists:
Laura Berman, Katheryn Byram, Carolee Clark, Dale Donovan, Babette Grunwald, Lee Kitzman, Judith Sander, Harold Wood, Debby Sundbaum-Sommers

Please bring your guests to the museum this holiday!

AMUSEMENTS is a 2,000 square foot exhibition of toys, games, trains, bicycles, dolls and more that appeals to adults and children alike.

In the Moreland Auditorium is the Philomath Open Studios exhibition, which showcases nine Benton County artists who are exhibiting their diverse media at the museum from November 12, 2010 through January 8, 2011.

With the acquisition of the Horner Collection in 2008, we have more than doubled the number of artifacts in our collections. Starting with “Horner Homecoming” in 2009 and “Can You Hear Me? Now?” in 2010, Mark Tolonen, Exhibitions Curator, and his team of dedicated volunteers have been developing thematic shows that illustrate the depth and breadth of the Society’s collections. Many of these artifacts have not been seen by the public since the Horner Museum at Oregon State University closed in 1993.

Admission is always free!

Randy Emberlin, well known Spider-man comic book artist and cartoon animator, is at the museum today to talk to middle school students about the art of comic books and animation. The students are familiar with many of his characters, such as Wonder Woman, Spider-man, Batman, G.I. Joe, Star Wars and many others. We're expecting 300 students to experience his multi-media presentations in the Moreland Auditorium.

This is also the final week of Earl Newman's colorful retrospective in the Moreland. The two artists' work complement each other, creating a very fun atmosphere. Randy is a jazz fan, and he was excited to see Earl's 2010 Monterey Jazz Festival poster.

What a pleasure it is to host such talented artists!