The other Polson Museum

By Paul Fugelburg

Among Other Things

Did you know that there’s a third Polson Museum? This one is in Hoquiam, Wash. Quite an elaborate one, too. Susan and Peter Mangels sent us a folder telling about it. That was enough to get my curiosity and I Googled its website, and here are some of the things I learned about “the other Polson Museum.”

It is the most extensive local collection of Grays Harbor history with some 2,500 photographs marking the area’s geographic and social diversity. One of the more interesting photos is of a Fourth of July log roll on the Hoquiam River about 1910.

Listed on the register of National Historic Sites, the 6,500 sq. ft. museum has 26 rooms, 17 of them open to the public. It used to be the residence of Arnold Polson, heir to the Polson Logging Co. The building is a Colonial Revival style with four fireplaces, four bathrooms, and single length 38-ft. long strips of hemlock floorboards in the living room.

Constructed in 1924 and presented to Arnold Polson by his bachelor uncle Robert as a wedding gift, the building was located next to Arnold’s father Alex Polson’s even more stately mansion (now destroyed) that was on the site of the present rose garden.

Native American artifacts and basketry items are displayed. Permanent exhibits reflect the industrial history of the area including sawmills, deep woods logging camps. Domestic displays include a working kitchen and dressing room of past fashions. In each room are 1941 photographs of family possessions and original decorations.

Upstairs displays are the Little Hoquiam Railroad in the logging room, historic exhibits in the sports room, children’s room, period costume room, and stairway gallery. After the Little Hoquiam Railroad, a favorite for kids is the Polson’s daughters’ childhood doll house.

Downstairs in the dining room are Native American artifacts, an extensive China display, Polson family exhibit, and remodeled 1920s period kitchen. Alas, the kitchen offers no food.

The Polsons lived there until moving to Seattle in 1965. Arnold died in 1968 and Mrs. Polson donated the building to the City of Hoquiam in 1976. The city now owns and maintains the building and grounds. Exhibits and collections are overseen by the Polson Park and Museum Historical Society. Hundreds of friends, members, and volunteers support the facility.

Outside, there are two acres of park land with picnic areas, logging equipment displays, and the Burton C. Ross Memorial Rose Garden. Exhibits include a replica of the Polson Logging Company’s blacksmith shop that houses the Polson Logging Company’s original forge, anvil, and other historic logging tools; two steam donkeys — an 1890s Lidgerwood and an 1880s Dolbeer, which give an impressive glimpse into Grays Harbor’s steam-powered logging era; a 1933 Linn Half Track used by the Polson Logging Co. and a 1932 Lamb Speed-Trak built in Hoquiam.

A 1950s Ross Straddle Carrier is undergoing restoration for use in Hoquiam’s annual Loggers’ Playday Parade.

Polson, Montana, still has the unique distinction of being the only city of that name in the U.S. — and in the universe for that matter.