ARTIFACT COLLECTION

From fish to hats to horse-drawn carriages and Native baskets, the Harbor History Museum artifact collection tells stories of Peninsula people, places and events. Our largest artifacts include the purse seiner Shenandoah, currently undergoing restoration in our Maritime Gallery, and the Midway Schoolhouse, moved to the site in an effort to save the area’s last one-room schoolhouse. The smallest objects in our collection include buttons and pins, both practical and promotional. Other artifacts tell stories of logging, farming, fishing, and boat building, as well as early businesses such as automotive repair, sign painting, grocery sales, and entertainment.

Our Teaching Collection includes objects that do not have a specific provenance or direct tie to people, places, or events in the Gig Harbor-Peninsula’s past, but are typical of those objects. We use this collection for teaching object investigation and for use in our Schoolhouse programming.