Rescheduled from our surprise snow day last week. HHM Members are invited to join us for a special member reception and exhibit walkthrough with director/curator Stephanie Lile. The Hostess with the Mostess is our latest special exhibit, and it’s here just in time for Women’s History Month. Please RSVP to events@harborhistorymuseum.org with RSVP 3/20/26 in the subject line.

This event is a collaboration between Creative Little Studios/Stitcheroo, Too and the Harbor History Museum's "Hostess with the Mostest" exhibit. 50% of the proceeds from this event go directly to the museum for future programming and community development. Choose from a selection of fabrics to create your own apron using a sewing machine. A great gift for your favorite baker or to inspire your own kitchen creations.

$60 - Ages 14 to Adult

Space is limited. Click HERE to register: Classes, Camps & Workshops | Stitchoroo

From feed sack aprons to feeding family and friends, the art of entertaining is at the fore with this new, fun exhibit. Inspired by a local woman’s collection of aprons, this exhibit looks at both old world influences and the new world of women working and affecting community change.

Join us for the public opening of the exhibit anytime March 14, 2026, 11-4pm.

Ribbon cutting with special guests: 11:30 am

Special presentation on how to set a table, the proper way! Noon and 2pm

Curator tour on the exhibit’s highlights and back story at 1pm.

This is our FREE Second Saturday so all are welcome. Museum hours: 11:00am-4pm.

Due to inclement weather, the 3/13 Member Preview of our new Hostess with the Mostest exhibit has been POSTPONED.

This exhibit was inspired by a collection of aprons from the late Helen Neilsen Johnson Bates and grew into an inspiring journey of women accomplishing remarkable things through the art of entertaining.

The public opening of this exhibit will still be on Saturday, March 14, 2026.

Members, please RSVP to Liberty Henderson at events@harborhistorymuseum.org, 253-858-6722 x2.

Book talk: Tell us about a book you’ve enjoyed and why you enjoyed it.

We’re kicking off the new season with some fun sharing of favorites and recommendations. Book lovers of all sorts are welcome to join the discussion.

The group meets in the Harbor History Museum Resource Room.

Join the Gig Harbor Literary Society for our monthly book discussion—an inviting evening of thoughtful conversation, fresh perspectives, and a shared love of reading. Whether you’ve finished the book cover to cover or are simply curious to listen in, all are welcome. Come connect with fellow readers, explore new ideas, and enjoy the kind of lively dialogue that makes literature come alive.

The Return of Ellie Black is a thriller by Emiko Jean about Detective Chelsey Calhoun, whose life is upended when Ellie Black, a teenager missing for two years, reappears in the woods of Washington state, but refuses to talk, leading Chelsey to uncover a dark mystery involving abuse, missing girls, and a personal connection to her own missing sister, with shocking twists revealing that Ellie might be protecting a predator, and that the past isn't as it seems. 

Grab the gang and stop in for some Valentines fun on Thursday, February 12, 2026 between 4pm and 6pm. Admission is free after 4pm (suggested donation $5 per person) with fun fixings for making Valentines cards available in our lobby. The Museum Mercantile and galleries will be open, and Mocktales will be available for $5 each.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 6th from 6pm-7:30pm at the Harbor History Museum. The book for January is Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn.

In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends. Nainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods―a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family’s legacy. When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai’i―with tragic consequences―they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.

How to get a copy of the book:

1. Call us (253) 858-6722 at the museum and identify yourself as a Gig Harbor Literary Society member and the staff will put a copy aside for you.

2. Request an electronic version through the Libby app on your mobile device.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts. As always, even if you don't have a chance to read or listen to the book, join us. This event is FREE and open to the public. For questions, please contact Cindy Hackett at cynthia.hale.hackett@gmail.com

Papa Claus is making a special stop here in the Museum gallery! Come in where it’s warm and dry to snap a picture with our beloved Santa who will meet and greet kids young and old in our special holiday history spot (sorry no pets). Admission to the museum and Santa pictures are FREE all weekend.

Spread the cheer!

Papa Claus is making a special stop here in the Museum gallery! Come in where it’s warm and dry to snap a picture with our beloved Santa who will meet and greet kids young and old in our special holiday history spot (sorry no pets). Admission to the museum and Santa pictures are FREE all weekend.

Spread the cheer!

Admission is FREE for Members and $6 for Non-members.

St Lucia is a traditional favorite among Scandinavian and Italian cultures. Please join us for the annual St. Lucia Festival! Honoring the Harbor's Scandinavian roots, we will have the traditional children's procession, Swedish treats, and live singing by the GHHS choir! Join in the fun with crafts, games, storytime, and more! $6/person 5 and up, free for HHM Members.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 3rd, 6pm-7:30pm at the Harbor History Museum. The book for December is Falling From Horses by Molly Gloss.

In 1938, 19-year-old cowboy Bud Frazer sets his sights on becoming a stunt rider in the movies. Fantasizing about rubbing shoulders with the great screen cowboys of his youth, he leaves his home in Echol Creek, Oregon, and heads for Hollywood. On the long bus ride south, Bud meets a young woman who also harbors dreams of making it in the movies, though not as a starlet but as a writer, a real writer. Lily Shaw is bold and outspoken and confident in ways completely out of proportion with her small frame and bookish looks. The two proceed to strike up an unlikely kinship that will carry them through their tumultuous days in Hollywood - and, as it happens, for the rest of their lives. Acutely observed and impeccably authentic, Falling From Horses charts what turns out to be a glittering year in the movie business, seen through the wide eyes and lofty dreams of two people trying to make their mark on the world, or at least to make their way in it. As she did so memorably in her previous novel, the best-selling The Hearts of Horses, Molly Gloss weaves a remarkable tale of humans and horses, hope and heartbreak. Molly Gloss is also the author of The Jump-Off Creek, a winner of both the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and the Oregon Book Award, The Dazzle of Day, a New York Times Notable Book and winner of the PEN Center West Fiction Prize, and Wild Life, winner of the James Tiptree Jr. Award.

How to get a copy of the book:

1. Call us (253) 858-6722 at the museum and identify yourself as a Gig Harbor Literary Society member and the staff will put a copy aside for you.

2. Request an electronic version through the Libby app on your mobile device.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts. As always, even if you don't have a chance to read or listen to the book, join us. This event is FREE and open to the public. For questions, please contact Cindy Hackett at cynthia.hale.hackett@gmail.com

Double your discount at the Museum Mercantile! It’s a great day to get a jump on holiday shopping during “Shop the Harbor.” Fill your stockings with handy goods, unique Gig Harbor treasures, and sweet treats. Plus, members receive a double-discount on all mercantile goods…that’s 30% off everything from bandanas to banana slugs!

Take a walk along Donkey Creek to spot any returning Chum Salmon. Along the way, pick up a passport to complete all the fun activities. Don’t miss the Museum’s new “Return of the Chum” art installation on our courtyard fence. Turn in completed passports at the museum’s front desk to be entered in a drawing to win a fun-filled Salmon Prize!

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 4th from 6pm-7:30pm at the Harbor History Museum. The book for November is Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk by Sasha LaPointe.

Sasha LaPointe has always longed for a sense of home. When she was a child, her family moved around frequently, often staying in barely habitable church attics and trailers, dangerous places for young Sasha.With little more to guide her than a passion for the thriving punk scene of the Pacific Northwest and a desire to live up to the responsibility of being the namesake of her beloved great-grandmother—a linguist who helped preserve her Indigenous language of Lushootseed—Sasha throws herself headlong into the world, determined to build a better future for herself and her people. Set against a backdrop of the breathtaking beauty of Coast Salish ancestral land and imbued with the universal spirit of punk, Red Paint is ultimately a story of the ways we learn to find our true selves while fighting for our right to claim a place of our own. Examining what it means to be vulnerable in love and in art, Sasha offers up an unblinking reckoning with personal traumas amplified by the collective historical traumas of colonialism and genocide that continue to haunt native peoples. Red Paint is an intersectional autobiography of lineage, resilience, and, above all, the ability to heal.

How to get a copy of the book:

1. Call us (253) 858-6722 at the museum and identify yourself as a Gig Harbor Literary Society member and the staff will put a copy aside for you.

2. Request an electronic version through the Libby app on your mobile device.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts. As always, even if you don't have a chance to read or listen to the book, join us. This event is FREE and open to the public. For questions, please contact Cindy Hackett at cynthia.hale.hackett@gmail.com

Experience the rich history of some of Gig Harbor's founding members on a guided walking tour through the historic Artondale Cemetery. Tours are offered on Sunday, October 12, and Sunday, October 19, with four tours each day. Two tours are offered at 1:30 PM and two tours are offered at 4:00 PM. Each tour is limited to 20 people. Tickets are required for every person attending, regardless of age. Please note that for the safety and comfort of all attendees, dogs are not permitted.

Tours will happen rain or shine, so dress like you live in the PNW! Warm up with complimentary hot cocoa or cider served upon check in. Your ticket purchase helps support two important local institutions, as this event is a fundraiser for both the Artondale Cemetery Association and the Harbor History Museum. Your tickets will be held at will call the day of the event. *You will not be mailed a physical ticket* Don't miss this chance to learn, remember, and contribute to the preservation of Gig Harbor's heritage!

This event is sponsored by The Far North Retreats. For further questions, please send an email to thefarnorthretreats@gmail.com Visit our website at: https://thefarnorthretreats.com/

Experience the rich history of some of Gig Harbor's founding members on a guided walking tour through the historic Artondale Cemetery. Tours are offered on Sunday, October 12, and Sunday, October 19, with four tours each day. Two tours are offered at 1:30 PM and two tours are offered at 4:00 PM. Each tour is limited to 20 people. Tickets are required for every person attending, regardless of age. Please note that for the safety and comfort of all attendees, dogs are not permitted.

Tours will happen rain or shine, so dress like you live in the PNW! Warm up with complimentary hot cocoa or cider served upon check in. Your ticket purchase helps support two important local institutions, as this event is a fundraiser for both the Artondale Cemetery Association and the Harbor History Museum. Your tickets will be held at will call the day of the event. *You will not be mailed a physical ticket* Don't miss this chance to learn, remember, and contribute to the preservation of Gig Harbor's heritage!

This event is sponsored by The Far North Retreats. For further questions, please send an email to thefarnorthretreats@gmail.com Visit our website at: https://thefarnorthretreats.com/

Experience the rich history of some of Gig Harbor's founding members on a guided walking tour through the historic Artondale Cemetery. Tours are offered on Sunday, October 12, and Sunday, October 19, with four tours each day. Two tours are offered at 1:30 PM and two tours are offered at 4:00 PM. Each tour is limited to 20 people. Tickets are required for every person attending, regardless of age. Please note that for the safety and comfort of all attendees, dogs are not permitted.

Tours will happen rain or shine, so dress like you live in the PNW! Warm up with complimentary hot cocoa or cider served upon check in. Your ticket purchase helps support two important local institutions, as this event is a fundraiser for both the Artondale Cemetery Association and the Harbor History Museum. Your tickets will be held at will call the day of the event. *You will not be mailed a physical ticket* Don't miss this chance to learn, remember, and contribute to the preservation of Gig Harbor's heritage!

This event is sponsored by The Far North Retreats. For further questions, please send an email to thefarnorthretreats@gmail.com Visit our website at: https://thefarnorthretreats.com/

Experience the rich history of some of Gig Harbor's founding members on a guided walking tour through the historic Artondale Cemetery. Tours are offered on Sunday, October 12, and Sunday, October 19, with four tours each day. Two tours are offered at 1:30 PM and two tours are offered at 4:00 PM. Each tour is limited to 20 people. Tickets are required for every person attending, regardless of age. Please note that for the safety and comfort of all attendees, dogs are not permitted.

Tours will happen rain or shine, so dress like you live in the PNW! Warm up with complimentary hot cocoa or cider served upon check in. Your ticket purchase helps support two important local institutions, as this event is a fundraiser for both the Artondale Cemetery Association and the Harbor History Museum. Your tickets will be held at will call the day of the event. *You will not be mailed a physical ticket* Don't miss this chance to learn, remember, and contribute to the preservation of Gig Harbor's heritage!

This event is sponsored by The Far North Retreats. For further questions, please send an email to thefarnorthretreats@gmail.com Visit our website at: https://thefarnorthretreats.com/

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 7th from 6pm-7:30pm at the Harbor History Museum. The book for October is West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge.

An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America. Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes. Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late.

How to get a copy of the book:

1. Call us (253) 858-6722 at the museum and identify yourself as a Gig Harbor Literary Society member and the staff will put a copy aside for you.

2. Request an electronic version through the Libby app on your mobile device.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts. As always, even if you don't have a chance to read or listen to the book, join us. This event is FREE and open to the public. For questions, please contact Cindy Hackett at cynthia.hale.hackett@gmail.com

Join us for our annual fundraising event: History Rocks 2025: The Boom Town Twenties

Don't miss the party of the decade! Slip into your finest glad rags and step back in time to the roaring 1920s—surrounded by authentic era planes and the vibrant spirit of the Jazz Age. Enjoy both a silent and a lively in-person auction led by the incomparable Jim Borgen, savor delicious food provided by Snuffin’s Catering, and raise a glass of complimentary wine, beer, or a Boom Town Old Fashioned. Bring plenty of dough for our auctions, win prizes for the best 1920s costume, and be among the first to celebrate the Harbor History Museum’s first local history hero. It’ll be the bee’s knees!

Tickets are $100 until July 15th. After July 15th tickets will go up to $125. Attendees will be automatically registered for the event's Silent and In-Person Auctions. Purchase your tickets here!

Become a Sponsor! Your generous support will be highlighted in both our print and digital media, helping bring history to life for our entire community.

Why Your Support Matters
History Rocks isn’t just a great party—it’s a vital event that helps sustain the Harbor History Museum throughout the year. As a local non-profit museum, we rely on the generosity of friends and neighbors like you to maintain our exhibits, protect local artifacts, run educational programs, and care for our community-serving facilities. Your ticket, your bid, and your sponsorship all make a real difference in ensuring this museum remains a vibrant place of learning, discovery, and connection for generations to come.

Thank you for being part of our story.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 2nd from 6pm-7:30pm at the Harbor History Museum. The book for September is The Library Book by Susan Orlean

On the morning of April 28, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. The fire was disastrous: it reached two thousand degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who? Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a “delightful…reflection on the past, present, and future of libraries in America” (New York magazine) that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before. In the “exquisitely written, consistently entertaining” (The New York Times) The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries; brings each department of the library to vivid life; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago.

“A book lover’s dream…an ambitiously researched, elegantly written book that serves as a portal into a place of history, drama, culture, and stories” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis), Susan Orlean’s thrilling journey through the stacks reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just books—and why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country.

How to get a copy of the book:

1. Call us (253) 858-6722 at the museum and identify yourself as a Gig Harbor Literary Society member and the staff will put a copy aside for you.

2. Request an electronic version through the Libby app on your mobile device.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts. As always, even if you don't have a chance to read or listen to the book, join us. This event is FREE and open to the public. For questions, please contact Cindy Hackett at cynthia.hale.hackett@gmail.com

Brought to you by Humanities Washington. Harbor History Museum is excited to welcome Brad Holden. When not out searching for local historical artifacts, Brad Holden enjoys writing about the more illicit side of Seattle’s past.  He is a contributing writer for HistoryLink.org (an online encyclopedia of Washington state history) and his work has also appeared in Seattle Magazine and several newspapers. Holden has been profiled on KIRO and KOMO news, Seattle Refined, NPR, King 5 Evening! and various publications. His trilogy of books related to the Prohibition era are available online and at bookstores everywhere. He lives in Edmonds, WA.

For those interested in the darker corners of local history, please visit Brad's site which chronicles all the "Delinquency, Devilry & Dirty Deeds in the Pacific Northwest" - Brad Holden's Vice Files

Admission is FREE for Members and $5 for Non-members. This talk will be IN PERSON at the museum. To save your space, please RSVP to Amy Crews at finance@harborhistorymuseum.org

This event is sponsored by Mary Sudar Appraisals and Estate Sales:

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 5th from 6pm-7:30pm at the Harbor History Museum. The book for August is Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran.

When Henry Oades accepts an accountancy post in New Zealand, his wife, Margaret, and their children follow him to exotic Wellington. But while Henry is an adventurer, Margaret is not. Their new home is rougher and more rustic than they expected—and a single night of tragedy shatters the family when the native Maori stage an uprising, kidnapping Margaret and her children. For months, Henry scours the surrounding wilderness, until all hope is lost and his wife and children are presumed dead. Grief-stricken, he books passage to California. There he marries Nancy Foreland, a young widow with a new baby, and it seems they’ve both found happiness in the midst of their mourning—until Henry’s first wife and children show up, alive and having finally escaped captivity. Narrated primarily by the two wives, and based on a real-life legal case, The Wives of Henry Oades is the riveting story of what happens when Henry, Margaret, and Nancy face persecution for bigamy. Exploring the intricacies of marriage, the construction of family, the changing world of the late 1800s, and the strength of two remarkable women, Johanna Moran turns this unusual family’s story into an unforgettable page-turning drama.

How to get a copy of the book:

1. Call us (253) 858-6722 at the museum and identify yourself as a Gig Harbor Literary Society member and the staff will put a copy aside for you.

2. Request an electronic version through the Libby app on your mobile device.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts. As always, even if you don't have a chance to read or listen to the book, join us. This event is FREE and open to the public. For questions, please contact Cindy Hackett at cynthia.hale.hackett@gmail.com

This event is at capacity, but we hope to see you next time. Thanks for your interest!

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Join us for a Special Presentation with Author and Portland TV Personality Anne Jaeger

Discover stories behind The Rule of Crime and Me, the compelling new biography of America’s legendary true crime author, Ann Rule.

Anne Jaeger; longtime journalist, crime reporter, and friend of Ann Rule, shares insights from their remarkable 31-year friendship. In this special event, Jaeger will reveal behind-the-scenes moments, personal anecdotes, and surprising adventures they experienced together, including encounters with some of the same notorious criminals, such as Diane Downs.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear from someone who knew the Queen of True Crime best.

The Dorotich, Skansie, Kazulin, Gilich, Bez, and Janovich families all came from Croatia, and more specifically the Dalmatian coast and the island of Brac. All were connected to the FV Shenandoah. But how did they find their way to America, and how were they related? Join director Stephanie Lile for a journey to and from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to America and discover the complex ties to each other and the Shenandoah. Learn more about our Croatian sister city, cross-continental boat building projects, and the invention that changed the face of commercial fishing forever.

Admission is FREE for Members and $5 for Non-members. This talk will be IN PERSON at the museum. To save your space, please RSVP to Amy Crews at finance@harborhistorymuseum.org