Leaning against the wall of a room on the fourth floor of the Baldwin Hotel Museum is an object that few people can identify.

In fact, so far, not a single museum visitor has been able to guess the object's purpose.

It's a squarish piece of iron about two inches across, just under six feet long, with a small spiked wheel on one end. In one's hand, it feels like it might weigh a ton — though it's probably less than a hundred pounds.

The Lumber Jack

Like thousands of other objects preserved at one of Klamath County's three public museums, it's a tangible connection to another age in human history — a time when sheer muscle was required to perform work that machines eventually took over.

A hundred years ago, the object was commonly known as a lumber jack. Stood on end with the wheel on top, it was used at a local sawmill to hoist heavy green planks to the top of tall stacks of lumber in the drying yard. The wheel made it easier for one laborer to hand the plank off to another.

A Story of Multiple Generations

Louie Pastega, whose Italian immigrant family operated a grocery store across the road from Pelican Bay Lumber — and Jeld-Wen in later years — through much of the 1900s, found the lumber jack lying on the ground years ago.

Louie's son, Richard, inherited the lumber jack, and in 2008 donated it to the Klamath County Museum — where it will help generations of museum-goers gain a little more insight to the life of mill workers.

That kind of generational donation pattern — from immigrant grandfather to son to museum to community memory — is exactly how local museums build their collections one family story at a time.

What Local Museums Specialize In

Local museums specialize in collecting:

  • Objects
  • Photos
  • Archives
  • People's stories

— that preserve their community's unique character.

Some of these materials are fun to look at:

  • Old record albums
  • Photo collections
  • Antique cars

Others recall a more difficult story to tell:

  • Pieces of art from the Japanese relocation center at Newell
  • The bars from the Fort Klamath guardhouse where four Modocs awaited their execution

And a few objects may remain in storage permanently. Examples include:

  • Nazi flags collected after the Second World War
  • A photo of hooded Klansmen attending a memorial service at a local funeral home in the 1920s

The decision to keep some objects in storage rather than on display reflects the museum's stewardship responsibility. These items document history that happened — and that documentation matters — but they are not glorified through public display.

Three Public Museums in Klamath County

The county's museum system includes three public museums — each with a distinct focus and collection.

Baldwin Hotel Museum

Favorite object: A solid silver teapot salvaged from the White Pelican Hotel that burned to the ground decades ago — a tangible artifact from one of the basin's most storied lost buildings.

The Baldwin itself is a historic building, and walking through it is a museum experience in its own right — exploring a turn-of-the-century hotel preserved for the public to experience the architecture, the layouts, and the daily life of an earlier era.

Klamath County Museum

The flagship museum collection — including the lumber jack and a vast collection of basin-history objects, photos, archives, and stories.

Visitors can spend hours examining the depth of basin history through the artifacts, signage, and curated displays — including the difficult chapters alongside the celebrated ones.

Fort Klamath Museum

A historic-site museum at Fort Klamath — including artifacts from the Modoc War and the Fort Klamath military post. The site itself is part of the museum experience, connecting visitors to a specific physical location where significant Klamath Basin history happened.

Why Local Museums Matter

Without local museums, basin history disappears into family attics, basement boxes, and eventually into garage sales and landfill.

Museums are the community memory bank — the place where:

  • Donated artifacts get preserved properly
  • Stories get documented and connected to the objects that tell them
  • Future generations can experience the basin as it was, not just as it is
  • School groups can learn local history through direct contact with primary sources
  • Researchers can dig deep into specific topics with archival support
  • Visitors can understand what makes Klamath County distinct from anywhere else

Visit and Support

If you haven't been to a Klamath County museum recently — change that this month.

If you're a basin family with objects, photos, or stories that should be preserved — reach out to the museum. They are actively building the collection.

If you have time to volunteer or financial capacity to donate — the museum welcomes both.

Contact

Klamath County Museum Todd Kepple · Museum Director klamathcountymuseums.com

The lumber jack is waiting. So are thousands of other objects with their own stories to tell. Come see what your basin remembers.