Two buildings have been restored to house pictures and artifacts of logging, fishing, blacksmithing and housewares. The blacksmith shop, built in 1907, sits on the original site. In 1895, Stella port was where the huge log rafts were made. From Stella the rafts, called cigar rafts, were towed to the ocean and then south to California, where Southwest Washington timber helped build the booming city of San Francisco. The museum is open July 10 through Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Admission is by donation.
Wahkiakum County Historical Museum was built in Cathlamet in 1960 and enlarged in 1973. Though plain on the outside, it holds one of the bigger collections in the area. There's a good display of Americana from the past century, with an emphasis on local livelihoods - fishing, logging and farming. The big, heavy tools are a reminder of the days before computers and automation, when to work meant to sweat. The museum highlights the logging and fishing history of Wahkiakum County.