10 Best Museums in Portland
Where to Discover Portland’s History, Art, and Culture?
The best museums in Portland represent the city’s mix of traditions that don’t always logically fit together. The stoic timber and maritime trades run alongside nonconforming innovation and creativity, environmentalism, the often-overlooked contributions of indigenous and ethnic populations – and sometimes, the just plain weird.
Visit the Portland Art Museum to see an impressive collection of Native American art. Watch conservation in action at the World Forestry Center. Tour the solar system at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Step onto a floating maritime museum. Learn the history of Jewish people as well as Asian immigrant populations in Oregon. Make a puppet, touch Arctic kayaks, and hug Bigfoot. Read on to learn about this remarkable collection of museums.
1. Portland Art Museum
Visit one of the most impressive art collections in the Pacific Northwest
Good for: Couples, History, Photo
The Portland Art Museum contains a tremendous amount of art, with large collections of Native American and Northwest art as well as impressive selections of European and American works from the 19th and 20th centuries. Its Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Center for Native American Art consists of some 3,500 pieces, while its Center for Native American Art showcases the work of modern-day artists. The museum’s Center for an Untold Tomorrow is the reimagining of what was the Northwest Film Center.
A subterranean gallery connects 2 buildings on its 2.5-block campus in downtown Portland’s cultural district. While the museum is noted for its special exhibitions, it devotes 90 percent of its space to its permanent collection.
Location: 1219 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97205, USA
Open: Wednesday–Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm
Phone: +1 503-226-2811
Portland Art Museum
2. Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
Have fun with the kids, or just geek out on science yourself
Good for: Couples, History, Photo
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry mixes learning with entertainment on a waterfront setting along the Willamette River. The museum has interactive exhibits in multiple halls and laboratories focusing on physics, chemistry, technology, and paleontology, among other topics. The Science Playground is intended for children aged 6 and younger. Adults can attend “After Dark” events that combine science talks with beer and wine.
Walk outside to the riverfront and tour the USS Blueback, the submarine used in the film, “The Hunt for Red October.” Learn about the universe or see a laser light show with a curated soundtrack in the Kendall Planetarium. See a documentary during the day or a Hollywood movie at night in the Empirical Theater.
Location: 1945 SE Water Ave, Portland, OR 97214, USA
Open: Tuesday–Sunday from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm
Phone: +1 503-797-4000
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
3. World Forestry Center
Learn about forests and consider our role in shaping their future
Good for: Couples, History, Photo
The World Forestry Center’s Discovery Museum combines education and fascination to teach about forests and conservation around the globe. The museum, located in the expansive, wooded Washington Park, occupies an impressive 20,000-square-foot, 2-story wooden building in the Cascadian architectural style. Exhibits, some of them interactive, incorporate art, artifacts, video, forestry technology, and taxidermy.
See various examples of forest wildlife up close. Try operating something called a timberjack harvester in a simulator. Learn about wildfire. Take a video tour to learn about forest sustainability around the world. See an ancient stump of a Giant Sequoia – and learn why it turned to rock. Climb on a steam engine that hauled 1 billion feet of logs.
Location: 4033 SW Canyon Rd, Portland, OR 97221, USA
Open: Wednesday–Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm
Phone: +1 503-228-1367
World Forestry Center
4. Lincoln Street Kayak & Canoe Museum
See reproductions of small watercraft used by indigenous people
Good for: Couples, History, Photo, Unusual
Harvey Golden builds boats. These aren’t yachts or speedboats, though. Rather, they’re small, sleek replicas of historical watercraft, most of them developed by indigenous people in the Arctic or South Pacific. The boats were used for hunting, fishing, trading, migrating, and combat. Golden’s Lincoln Street Kayak & Canoe Museum occupies a small storefront that previously housed a beauty salon and grocer. Golden also creates accessories such as harpoons and camouflage. He does all this in his garage.
Golden can tell you about each boat’s history, design, materials, and aesthetics. He’s tried most of them on the Columbia River himself. The museum is open by appointment only, so contact Golden to set up a visit.
Location: 5340 SE Lincoln St, Portland, OR 97215, USA
Phone: +1 503-234-0264
Lincoln Street Kayak & Canoe Museum
5. Portland Puppet Museum
Discover puppets from around the world
Good for: Couples, History, Photo, Unusual
The Portland Puppet Museum holds some 2,000 puppets in a small storefront in Southeast Portland. Some are new, some antique. They originate from dozens of countries around the world. Some were made by proprietor and puppeteer Steven Overton. Overton is thrilled to share his collection with anyone who visits his museum, as well as the origin behind any puppet he has, whether it’s a marionette, rod-and-arm, dummy, or shadow puppet.
The museum doesn’t have the space to display the whole collection (which includes an original Miss Piggy from “The Muppet Show”), so he rotates exhibits every few months. Overton offers workshops for adults and children in an upstairs space, and he puts on shows in the building’s backyard.
Location: 906 SE Umatilla St, Portland, OR 97202, USA
Open: Thursday–Sunday from 2 pm to 8 pm
Phone: +1 503-233-7723
Portland Puppet Museum
6. Freakybuttrue Peculiarium and Museum
Demonstrate your commitment to the offbeat and unusual
Good for: Photo, Unusual
If you want to “Keep Portland Weird,” as locals are reminded by stickers and signs that proliferate the region, then the Freakybuttrue Peculiarium might be considered a de rigueur training camp. It claims to be dedicated to the blurry vision of an adventurer named Conrad Talmadge Elwood, who had a dream, forgot it, then endlessly searched the world for the inexplicable and freaky.
Peculiarium visitors are greeted by a massive Bigfoot statue, and can progress to a red-eyed Krampus, a space-alien autopsy scene and a trip inside a zombie brain. Novelties, books, shirts, stickers, and original artwork is offered. “Decent costumes and pets get in free,” says the website. One positive reviewer describes the admission price as “money unusually spent.”
Location: 2234 NW Thurman St, Portland, OR 97210, USA
Open: Thursday–Tuesday from 11 am to 7 pm (closed on Wednesdays)
Phone: +1 503-227-3164
Freakybuttrue Peculiarium and Museum
7. Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education
Explore the Jewish experience on local and global scales
Good for: Families, History
The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education takes on the regional as well as global history of Jewish people. Its mission is to explore the legacy of the Jewish experience in Oregon, teach the lasting relevance of the Holocaust, and provide space for conversation between cultures. Located near downtown Portland, it has 2 floors for exhibitions, a café, and a gift shop containing works by Jewish artists from the region.
It has rotating exhibitions in addition to core exhibitions, including “Discrimination and Resistance, an Oregon Primer,” “Oregon Jewish Stories,” “The Holocaust, an Oregon Perspective,” and “Human Rights After the Holocaust.” It hosts events including workshops, film screenings, artist talks, and panel conversations.
Location: 724 NW Davis St, Portland, OR 97209, USA
Open: Wednesday–Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm
Phone: +1 503-226-3600
Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education
8. Oregon Maritime Museum
Step aboard a restored steam ship to investigate maritime history
Good for: Families, History, Photo, Unusual
The Oregon Maritime Museum exists aboard a restored steam-powered sternwheeler called The Portland. This restored tugboat is on the National Register of Historic Places. Take a tour of the engine room and pilot house guided by docents. See maritime artifacts (one reviewer mentions a Spanish sword found on the beach) as well as memorabilia. Learn about steam power, lighthouses, and the battleship USS Oregon. Kids can blow a ship’s whistle and move parts of a ship model.
The Portland is docked on the Willamette River near Waterfront Park, while the museum’s library and main office are located in town.
Location: 198 SW Naito Pkwy, Portland, OR 97204, USA
Open: Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 11 am to 4 pm
Phone: +1 503-224-7724
Oregon Maritime Museum
9. Japanese American Museum of Oregon
Explore the history of Japanese Americans in the Pacific Northwest
Good for: History, Photo
The Japanese American Museum of Oregon aims to educate visitors about Japanese American history and culture in Portland and Oregon in general. It’s located in the city’s Old Town neighborhood, which once was Japantown. The museum focuses on the World War II era.
One permanent exhibit covers Japanese internment camps that opened after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Another depicts highly decorated Japanese American soldiers who fought for the country that imprisoned their relatives. Also see the jail cell of Minoru Yasui, Oregon’s first Japanese American lawyer. He spent 9 months in jail awaiting a Supreme Court decision on his arrest, an intentional violation of a law aimed at Japanese immigrants.
Location: 411 NW Flanders St STE 100, Portland, OR 97209, USA
Open: Friday–Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm
Phone: +1 503-224-1458
Japanese American Museum of Oregon
10. Portland Chinatown Museum
Past and contemporary Chinese-American culture come together
Good for: History, Photo
The Portland Chinatown Museum strives to preserve the history of Portland Chinatown, once among the largest in the nation, while making space for the culture and expression of contemporary Chinese Americans. One gallery features a permanent exhibition called “Beyond the Gate: A Tale of Portland’s Historic Chinatowns.” The multimedia exhibition includes stories, artifacts, and animated film as well as video and audio components. Seasonal traditions, business, and clothing are highlighted, as are discrimination and xenophobia.
Two other galleries are venues for current Asian American artists in various media in addition to lectures, performances, and other public programs.
Location: 127 NW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR 97209, USA
Open: Friday–Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm
Phone: +1 503-224-0008
Portland Chinatown Museum
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