Coos
County Logging Museum Myrtle Point, Oregon |
Mon - Sat | 10:00 AM - 4:00 | |
Sun | 1:00 PM - 4:00 |
Unfortunately, the change in proportions and radical reduction in size to an auditorium about forty-five feet in diameter and twenty-four feet in height up to the center skylight, resulted in acoustical chaos. Reverberations from the walls caused a speaker's voice to be unheard from the front seats while it would come in loud and clear from the back seats. Quiet comments from the room were, and still are, readily heard on the opposite side. False ceilings installed at varying heights by subsequent owners modified but never corrected the problem. Despite the difficulty with acoustics, the congregation continued to use the building until November 1927 when the Four Square Gospel Church, which had been organized the previous summer, purchased the property with the announced intention of using the church "until the end of the world." Mrs. A. T. Train, the leader of the group, expected that to be in a few short years. Mrs. Train ordered that the first false ceiling, made of burlap, be hung about sixteen feet from the floor but made no more alterations to the building. The Four Square Gospel congregation was never large and in time ceased to function. Then various organizations--the American Legion among others-began to use the building for meetings.
Shortly before World War II, when C. J. (Jop) Morgan was Commander, the Legion Post bought and remodeled the property for their own purposes. A kitchen wing was added at the rear without disrupting the lines of the original building. A continuous bench was built around the wall of the auditorium and the platform floor was lowered slightly. In the summer of 1961, the Legion Post put in a permanent ceiling at the ten-foot height and completely resurfaced the building with composition shingles in as near the color of the original weathered cedar shingles as possible. The work was done to bring the building up to standards required by the Fire Marshal for the fire zone in which it is located. Of structural interest is the framing system. The ribs or staves, continuous from floor to cupola, are laminated of three 1 x 4's nailed up in forms to the proper curvature. Set to sixteen inches on center at the floor, the ribs form a solid wall in the upper part of the ceiling. The ceiling was sprung around the ribs for a smooth surface.
In the spring of 1976, Mr. Jesse Laird, Mr. Ken Dietz and Mr. Curt Beckham
appeared on television and radio asking for donations of artifacts from the
olden days of logging. The Coos County Fair Board let the committee use a
building at the Fairgrounds and the Logging Museum was opened July 4, 1976.
After eleven years, the opportunity came to move the museum into the dome-shaped
building-the old American Legion Hall-which had been given to the City of Myrtle
Point. On September 26, 1987, the Coos County Logging Museum was again opened to
the public. Ongoing projects have been completed to improve the building and
museum. During the winter of 1988-1989 the ten-foot ceiling was removed, the
original dome-shaped ceiling was plastered, and a track-lighting system was
installed. Floors were sanded and sealed, and a bathroom was added. The
composition shingles were replaced by cedar shingles and, in October 1991, were
stained with 70 gallons of semi-transparent driftwood gray stain for
preservation and to give it the weathered look of the original. Much of the
money for renovating the building came from logging companies, individuals,
McKays Groceries and their suppliers. The Coos County Logging Museum building
was listed on the National Register of Historical Buildings on October 18, 1979.
Artifacts Collections
A large assortment of antique logging equipment: chain saws, spring boards,
rigging equipment, axes, adzes and other hand tools relating to logging,
railroad items as they pertain to the hauling of logs, old photographs,
myrtlewood carvings, etc.
Staff
Mrs. Judy Baker, Board Member/Office Manager
Email:
Museum Type
Specialized
Governance
Governing Authority: Board of Directors comprised of fifteen (15) members.