History
The museum is operated by the Oregon Historical Society. It began at the turn of the 18th to 19th century with a small museum located at Portland City Hall in downtown Portland. In 1917 the historical society and the museum moved to the Public Auditorium (later Civic Auditorium, then Keller Auditorium).
In 1966 the museum relocated again to its current home on the South Park Blocks, at 1200 SW Park Avenue. Part of the Oregon History Center is inside the former Sovereign Hotel that was built in 1923. There is a large mural on this nine story building painted by Richard Haas that depicts the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Other parts of the museum are in the three story 1230 SW Park Avenue building constructed in 1965.
The museum's lobby was remodeled in 2002–2003 at a cost of $3.75 million. Attendance in 2002 totaled 26,791 patrons for the museum. For much of its history the historical society received funding from the state and from Multnomah County, but in 2003 that ended. The 2007 legislature allocated $625,000 to the society, followed by $2.5 million in for 2009 to 2011. The museum's attendance totaled about 44,000 visitors in 2010.
Read more about this topic: Oregon Historical Society Museum
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