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Thursday, March 25, 2021
GO! magazine — A&E in Northeast Oregon
Take a stroll through LOCAL HISTORY
■ Baker Heritage Museum is open seven days a week
BAKER CITY — The Baker Her-
itage Museum is a place to learn
all about the roots of Baker County
— the settlers, the industries, the
people who came before us.
Where else can you stand in one
spot and learn about how a nun
and a bank robber contributed to
local history? (Spoiler: They didn’t
work together.)
The history museum, 2480 Grove
St., Baker City, opened for the sea-
son on Saturday, March 20.
It is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday through Saturday, and
noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Admission is $7 general, $6 for
seniors and military, or $25 for a
family or group of four to six people.
Admission is free for children age
12 and younger. Face coverings are
required.
A new display greets visitors
in the entry foyer with a detailed
history of the building, which cel-
ebrates 100 years in 2021.
It wasn’t always a museum.
The brick structure began life
as a natatorium — known as “The
Nat” — with an Olympic-sized
swimming pool. Historic photos
give a glimpse of that era, along
with wool swimming suits that
have been donated to the museum’s
collection.
In 1940 the Natatorium was
conveyed to the state of Oregon for
a National Guard Armory. It was
then leased to Baker War Indus-
tries and used for fabrication and
construction of equipment for the
military.
After Baker War Industries
closed in August 1945, the build-
ing sat unused and was nearly
demolished.
It was saved thanks to the Baker
County Historical Society.
The Society was founded in
1946. Museum exhibits were fi rst
displayed on the balcony of the old
Lisa Britton/Go! Magazine
The museum foyer gives a
preview of the extensive Cavin-
Warfel Rock Collection.
Lisa Britton/Go! Magazine
The exhibit “Extraordinary Women,” featuring women who left a mark on Baker County, may be
viewed at the Baker Heritage Museum, which opened for the season March 20.
Citizens National Bank (1954) and
then in the basement of Baker City
Hall (1960s).
The county museum commission
formed in the 1970s, and in 1976
the Natatorium was nominated
and listed on the National Register
of Historical Places.
Renovation work started in the
late 1970s. In 1983, the Oregon
Trail Regional Museum (its origi-
nal name) opened for fi ve days a
week. The Cavin-Warfel Rock Col-
lection, donated by two rockhound
sisters, opened July 16, 1984.
Fundraisers continued through-
out the 1990s to support improve-
ments and ongoing renovation.
WEEKEND OUTLOOK
This year, 2021, the Baker
Heritage Museum celebrates its
centennial year.
Displays tell the story of Baker
County’s history, from mining to
farming to small businesses that
now exist only in memory.
The current central gallery
exhibit, “Extraordinary Women of
Baker County and North Powder,”
highlights many local women such
as Sister Stanislaus, the fi rst Moth-
er Superior of St. Francis Academy,
and, perhaps on the other end of
the spectrum, Nellie Blanchette
McCarty, who participated in four
bank robberies by the McCarty
Gang in 1891 and 1892.
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