Milwaukie Historical Society Museum

I have a special affinity and affection for small museums in small towns, and this little museum housed in an 1865 farmhouse just south of Portland is worth the trip. Amid its standard fare of old farmtools, period dresses, local history, rope beds, family heirlooms and antique toys there are a few things that are truly worth leaving town for. For one, the Milwaukie Museum displays an extensive collection of dolls made out of avocado pits. These were certainly of higher quality than I expected: only the heads and hands are carved out of the pit-​wood and the rest of the dolls are made of cloth and other materials. The old woman who was a life-​long Milwaukie native made these things look great! The volunteer at the museum informed me that there was a place in California that had a collection of Avocado-​Pit Doll Heads that they were looking to get rid of, so they sent them up to the only other place that knows about Avocado Pit Dolls, the Milwaukie Museum, where they now share the display. Please don’t miss the spiritualist photograph of Bing that is hung in the hallway. It is a black and white portrait from the Victorian Era of a Milwaukie Resident. Just over his shoulder is a white ghost who happens to be the Chinese Foreman by the name of Bing who helped cultivate the famous cherry that became his namesake.