Baker Heritage Museum

The museum is located a sturdy brick building constructed in 1920 as the Baker Municipal Natatorium. For 20 years the first floor was a swimming pool with warm water piped in from nearby Samo Springs. The balcony on the second floor overlooked the swimming pool and was used as a skating rink. Plays and dances were put on in the large auditorium on the second floor. During WWII the pool was filled in and the space was used for making truck bodies and ammunition boxes. After the war and without a pool, the building was used for various purposes before becoming the museum. 

Th museum has an exhibit about the history of the building along with exhibits on other aspects of local history including trapping, gold mining, ranching, and the Oregon Trail. The second floor is kind of catch all for collections. The former auditorium houses antique furniture arranged in room settings. Some of the more interesting things are: an exhibit on the Chinese immigrants who came to work on the railroads or as gold miners and stayed to become business owners; a doctors office with early xray equipment; and a diorama of a western town used as a model for the carpenters building the movie set for Paint your Wagon. The actors and movie crew lived in the area for 6 months while the movie was being filmed. 

The museum is accessible with an elevator to the second floor. The ramp to access a raised room on the first floor with exhibits on the Oregon Trail is very steep. 

 RVs can be parked on the street or in the alley on the south side of the museum. Museum  44.78122, -117.82553